Issues affecting
Population Growth
Many factors naturally affect the
growth patterns and final outcomes of population growth. The issues are so
complex as to escape a reliable prediction and only a full understanding
of the natural environment and all its complexities and application of
Chaos theory will provide reliable
predictions over time. The interconnectedness of all organisms within time
and space make this a daunting and perhaps hapless quest.
However there are some less complex, perhaps obvious factors that affect
population growth patterns and we will examine them below.
Density-dependent
factors
Intraspecific Competition - species members compete for the
same resources of space, food mates etc.
Allelopathic inhibition -
some plants mesquite, walnut, peach, secrete chemicals into the soil that
inhibit plant growth
- many antibiotics are gleaned from bacteria that use the same (or
analogue) chemicals to control the population of competitors for the same
resources they are after.
Predation - high prey density favors the success of
predators
- high density of predators favors prey in the long run
Allee effect - once
some populations get below a certain size they will collapse due to lack
of genetic variation (Florida Panthers) , inablity to engage in needed
social facilitation (passenger pigeon), inabiltiy to find a mate (blue
whale)
Density independent factors
Climate
Change> presently many changes are
occurring due to this human induced phenomena > CO2, >temp ,> ecoinvadors
> disease-
Limiting factors - environment lacks one needed requirement
Environmental Disruption >
Insecticides>bioamplification
Habitat loss> island effect
Gene Pollution>
Agriculture>
Urbanization>
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