Learninsta presents the core concepts of Biology with high-quality research papers and topical review articles.
Population Of Regulation Organism
The inherent tendency of all animal populations is to increase in number. But it does not increase indefinitely. Once the carrying capacity of the environment is reached, population numbers remain static or fluctuate depending on environmental conditions. This is regulated by many factors which are
- Density independent – Extrinsic factors
- Density dependent – Intrinsic factors
Extrinsic factors include availability of space, shelter, weather, food, etc. Intrinsic factors include competition, predation, emigration, immigration and diseases.
Population growth is regulated in a variety of ways. These are grouped into density-dependent factors, in which the density of the population affects growth rate and mortality, and density-independent factors, which cause mortality in a population regardless of population density.
Density-dependent factors include disease, competition, and predation. Density-dependant factors can have either a positive or a negative correlation to population size. With a positive relationship, these limiting factors increase with the size of the population and limit growth as population size increases.
Density-dependent regulation can be affected by factors that affect birth and death rates such as competition and predation. Density-independent regulation can be affected by factors that affect birth and death rates such as abiotic factors and environmental factors, i.e. severe weather and conditions such as fire.