Science

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populations over time, they can see how the population has changed. They may even be able to predict how the population will be in the future. When they monitor the populations it can also help to show whether conservation efforts are helping an endangered species increase in numbers or not.

Population size (N)

Population size is the actual number of individuals that live within a population.

Population size explains species populations and how that species population interacts with their environment. It also studies how it changes over time. Studying population size helps makes it possible to predict the long term probability of a species persisting in a given habitat or area over a longer period of time.

Scramble Competition

Scramble competition is when in a situation a certain resource is accessible to all of the competitors in a population.

Scramble competition is shared equally with the competitors so that the "quantity of food per individual in the species declines with increasing population density”. “Competition for a resource that is inadequate for the needs of all, but which is partitioned equally among contestants, so that no competitor obtains the amount it needs and all would die in extreme cases.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramble_competition)

Mortality Rates

Mortality rates are death tolls or numbers in a certain area or period of time that is caused by something.

Mortality rates are important in ecology because when followed and observed closely it shows the age at death, and the data may be used to estimate a static life table.

Food Supply

Food supply is food that is obtained for a certain population or animal. It is what they have to live off of in a given time.

The availability of the food supply prior to breeding plays a critical role in the timing and the initiation of reproducing. Without enough food supply, species will die off, and they will not be able to reproduce and eventually without reproducing that species will eventually die off and become extinct or have to change their source of food.

Home Range

Home range is an area where an animal or many animals travel when searching for food or mates.

The home range is where a specific animal lives and defends on a regular basis. When studying home range, it helps when animals are being placed in conservation. By studying the home range it allows us for a better understanding on how much land these animals need to roam, this way when they are in conservation they are comfortable and still at home as well as being protected.

Biomass

Biomass is the total number of organisms living in a certain area.

In ecology, biomass refers to the accumulation of the living organisms in a certain area.

Intraspecific

Intraspecific competition is when members of the same species compete for limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both individuals.

As members of the same species have the same resource demands, intraspecific competition will usually be more intense than interspecific competition. I feel that this helps keep the numbers in order for species and its prey.

Interspecific

Interspecific competition is when individuals of different species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (food or living space).

Life is a cycle, if there’s a lot of prey, predators will have more food resources therefore have more babies, so there would be an increase in predators, when there’s an increase in predators, then they will be eating all of the prey, and then the number of prey will decrease, and the predator number will decrease also.

Non Consumable Resource

A non consumable resource is something that is is not able to be reproduced once it is gone.

A non-consumable resource is one where the level of the resource is instantly reset once the effecting action has stopped. You don’t permanently consume a non-consumable resource, you only temporarily alter it, and the amount changed. (mas.cs.umass.edu/research_old/taems/white/elements/resources/nonconsumable.html_)

Niche Overlap

A niche overlap is when two species compete for the same limiting resource, and they overlap and develop similar traits.

In ecology, niche overlap is related to the behavior of a species living in specific environmental conditions. The ecological niche describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for example, by growing when resources are abundant, and when predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce) and how it in turn alters those same factors (for example, limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_niche).

Resource Partitioning

Resource partitioning is when similar species use up all the limited in an area without one species driving the others into extinction.

When a species split up a niche to try to avoid competition for resources, it is called resource partitioning. For example, animals and plants may evolve to reproduce at different times of the year, feed at different times of the day or night, or use a different part of the