Population Dynamics

 hPopulation Dynamics - is the study of the changing nature of living populations.

Individuals are grouped into larger units called populations.
Population dynamics can be used in the study of the following fields ……

 hEcology - ecological systems are the interaction of various populations upon each other

      - competition for resources of habitat/energy-nutrient
- often introduced species compete for habitat/nutrient with natives

 h Evolution – competition is the driving force of evolution, individuals inside a population drive evolution, changes in the gene pool of a population are the result

      -          evolution may operate fastest after populations collapse
-          (punctuated equilibrium) Eldridge + Gould

 h Wildlife Management – human pressures on wild populations resulting from harvesting, habitat destruction, and introduction of exotic species has disturbed populations in many ways

- efforts to manage populations in complex ecosystems has been a colossal disasters especially in marine systems
h Microbiology – parasites, bacteria, virus exploit host/victim populations often in harmful ways

- methods of control often require understanding population dynamics (epidemiology)
- sigmoidal growth curves
h Medicine – pathogens are populations that spread within host populations in predictable ways and often are maintained in animal populations (zooreservoir)
- cold virus, AIDS virus, Ebola virus,

 h Urban planning – human populations change due to the birth/death rate and migration

- urban planning is a complex study of the ways growth in which urban populations will be accommodated/optimized and the characteristics of various stages of human population growth   

 h Global predictions – populations are dynamic and usually follow crude sinusoidal oscillations (lynx-hare) in the natural environment
- technology driven changes in human populations due to
a) increases in human population – resource demand
b) human activity often has long term effects on environment