110lectpopulationevolutionhumanstudyguidefall02

EVPP 110 Lecture - Fall 2002

Instructor: Dr. Largen

Populations - Evolution and natural history, and human population Study Guide

Life tables track mortality and survivorship in populations

what is a life table and what kind of information does it contain?
what do we call the graphs that result when life table data is plotted?
do all species exhibit the same type of survivorship curve?
why is a percentage of maximum life span used on the horizontal axis instead of actual age categories?
what are the 3 types of survivorship curves?
what are the general characteristics of a population that exhibits a Type I survivorship curve?
what are the general characteristics of a population that exhibits a Type II survivorship curve?
what are the general characteristics of a population that exhibits a Type III survivorship curve?
what type of survivorship curve is exhibited by humans?

Evolution shapes life histories

what does the life history of an organism entail?
what are some of the important life history traits that influence the growth rate of a population?
what are the two main types of life histories?
what are the characteristics of a population that exhibits an opportunistic life history?
what are the characteristics of a population that exhibits an equilibrial life history?

The human population has been growing very rapidly for centuries

would human population growth over the past thousand years be described as exponential or logistic?
what is the approximate current world human population?
what are some of the factors thought to have contributed to the exponential human population growth that has occurred over the past 1000 years?

Age-structure diagrams predict the future growth of populations

what is meant by the "age structure" of a population?
describe the type of data represented in an age-structure diagram (population pyramid)
what are the four age structures characteristic of human populations?
what does the shape of the age-structure diagram (population pyramid) tell us about the future growth of that population?
why is a population whose age-structure diagram has a very broad base and narrow top likely to continue growing rapidly?
why is a population whose age-structure diagram has nearly parallel sides and a rectangular shape likely to be stable, with neither a significant increase of decrease in population?
why is a population whose age-structure diagram has a very narrow base and broad top likely to be experiencing an ongoing decline in population?