| A | B |
|---|
| Dispersion | the pattern of spacing of individuals within the area the population inhabits |
| Survivorship curves | also known as mortality curves; described often as type 1 (success of the very young; high mortality in old age); type 2 (death rate is constant with birth rate) and type 3 (high death rate in the young) |
| Carrying capacity | the number of individuals that can occupy one area at a particular time |
| r-strategists | individuals that offer little to no parenting; produce many small young, rapid maturation; ex. insects |
| K-strategists | individuals that may experience intense parenting; slow maturation; reproduce many times; and produce few, large sized individuals; ex. mammals |
| Principle of Competitive Exclusion | if two species share an ecological niche, they will compete, and one will not survive |
| Ecological niche | the nutritional role in an ecosystem |
| Character displacement | competiting organisms of similar species evolve different characteristics to coexist in an environment, ex. Galapagos finches |
| Resource partitioning | one species evolves, through natural selection, to exploit different resources in order to survive |
| Biotic potential | the maximum reate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions |
| Density | the number of individuals per unit area or volume |
| Population | a group of individuals of the same species that occupy the same area, use the same resources, and respond to similar environmental factors |
| Life history | an organism's schedule of reproduction and survival |
| Density-dependent | decreases in birth rate and increases in death rate may regulate populations through negative feedback |
| Density-independent | rates of birth and death do not change with population density and do not regulate growth by feedback |
