THIS TOPIC INCLUDES:
1. Population Ecology
2. Predator-Prey Relationships
3. Competition
4. Ecological Succession
5. Social Organisation
6. Human Population Dynamics
TOPIC BREAKDOWN:
Population Ecology- studying changes in • Factors Affecting the size of a
the SIZE of a population population
• Regulation of Population Growth
• Limiting Factors
• Stable VS unstable populations
• Population Sampling Methods
(direct and indirect)
Predator Prey Relationships- studying • Role/ Significance of Predators
the relationship between prey and • How does the predator-prey
predator populations relationship work
• Examples of predator-prey
relationships (APHID-LADYBIRD,
LION-ZEBRA)
• Food Webs
Competition- two/more individuals • INTRASPECIFIC VS INTERSPECIFIC
competing for resources that are in short competition
supply • Ecological niches
Competitive exclusion
Competitive co-existence:
o Resource Partitioning
-How resources are
partioned in plants and
animals
Ecological Succession- the sequence of • Types of succession: Primary
organism that occupy a new habitat Succession and Secondary
(primary succession) or a disturbed Succession
habitat (secondary succession) • What determines a community
structure
, • Competitive interactions:
Predation and competition
• 3 Stages in succession
1. Pioneer Species Stage
2. Intermediate Species Stage
3. Climax Community
Factors that determine the
endpoint to a community
Social organisation- structure of • Value of social organization
relationships within a group • Social organization techniques:
1. Herds/ Flocks as a predator
avoidance strategy (ZEBRAS)
2. Packs as a hunting strategy
(AFRICAN WILD DOGS)
3. Animals with a dominant breeding
pair (AFRICAN WILD DOGS)
4. Division of Tasks Among Castes
(TERMITES)
Human Population Dynamics- looking at • Reasons for exponential
how human populations change over population growth
time • MDCs VS LDCs
• Ecological footprint
• Future Population Dynamics
• Implications of further population
growth on environment
• Population Pyramids