POPULATION

GROWTH AND
BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth which includes all its forms and all its
interactions. All species including humans, depend on each other to survive. Loss
of biodiversity leads to the loss of services that nature provides which are essential
to the functioning of our society and economy.
Humans affect biodiversity with their population size that demands use of
resources causing damage to habitats of other species.

Human activities that eventually lead to the decline in biodiversity also lead to
demands for call for action for the elimination of threats to wildlife, which are
often preservation and conservation policies. Thus, if proper actions are to be
made, humans would be able to sustain life on earth longer.
When we talk about population in Biology, it pertains to all the organisms of the
same group or species who live in a particular geographical location and have
the potential to interbreed. Populations grow over time.

In demographics, population is defined as the total number of humans who are

currently living. As of March 2, 2020, the world population is 7.8 billion. The
current population of the Philippines is 110,581,078 based on the Worldometer
elaboration of the latest United Nations data. The Philippine population is
equivalent to 1.41% of the world total population making it the 13th in the list of
countries with the highest population.
A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in a certain
area. Ecologist regularly monitor the number of organisms and many
populations, but why do they do this? Why should we care if the number of
organisms in an area is increasing or decreasing? Well, populations that are
growing or diminishing can be indicators of potential problems in the
organisms environment and such conditions alarm the ecologist if something
is going wrong. It is not to simply know the number of organisms in an area is
increasing or decreasing, ecologist need to know why the number of
organisms is decreasing so one of the main questions ecologist as themselves
is this why is a population size increasing or decreasing.
 There are many factors that can cause a population size to change but first we
must understand the basic reason behind the population increases or decreases.
Any population, whether it be that of humans, animals, the mold growing on
bread, or the bacteria living in your intestines, will grow if more organisms are
being developed (genetically modified organisms),or born, than are dying. The
number of births in population is called the birth rate (natality).The number of
organisms that are dying in a population is called the death rate (mortality). If
the birth rate is greater than the death rate, a population will grow. If the death
rate is greater than birth rate, then the population will decrease.
 Population
The complete set group of individuals, whether the
group comprises a nation or a group of people with
a common characteristic
Population size
is the total number of individuals present in a
subjectively designated geographic range.
 Population density
is the average number of individuals in a population per
unit of area or volume. To compute, you need to divide the population
size by the size of the area. Thus, population density is equal to the
number of individuals over the land area and expressed in mi2 or km2.
 Overpopulation
refers to a situation where a population exceeds its sustainable size
within a particular environment or habitat. Factors that contribute to
overpopulation include increase in birth rate and decrease in
mortality rate. Increase in population have important implications
for resource consumption, with rapid increases in household
numbers associated with loss in biodiversity.
There are always limits to population growth in an area. Populations
cannot grow exponentially forever. Exponential growth of a
population is characterized by continuous birth rate through time
that is not hampered by insufficient food supply or the presence of
disease. Increasing population size always reach a size limit brought
by the shortage of one or more factors such as space, water, nutrients
or by adverse conditions such as disease, drought, and extreme
weather conditions.
 Carrying Capacity
This is referred to as the maximum number of species whose basic
needs could be continually supported or sustained by the resources
in their habitat without degrading and destroying the environment.
This is determined by factors such as availability of food, space, and
water. These key factors have the influence to limit or reduce a
population size by lowering birth rates, increasing the death rates or
even encourage migration such that these are referred to as limiting
factors.
As the population size increases, the demand for resources also
increases. The carrying capacity depends on biotic and abiotic
factors. If there will be ample resources for these factors, the
carrying capacity also increases. However, if the factors become less
abundant, the carrying capacity decreases. If resources are being
used more rapidly than they are being restored, then the species has
surpassed its carrying capacity. If this happens, the population will
then decline in size.
A population of organisms cannot grow forever, it's growth
will be limited or stopped at some point and the death rate
will be greater than the birth rate. A population's growth is
limited by many limiting factors that are categorized into
two:
density -independent factors and density -dependent
factors.
 Density - dependent limiting factors
-are those whose influence population growth vary depending on
population density (e.g. competition, diseases, predation, etc.). An
increase in population density could lead deficiency in resources like
food, shelter, and water that could lead to increased competition that
often cause harm to individuals. Increase in population density could
also increase the amount of waste produced by members of the
population, which could lead to unhealthy living space that results to
diseases.
 Density - independent limiting factors
These affect populations regardless of their population size. These
include natural disasters, unusual weather, seasonal cycles and certain
human activities such as obstructing the rivers and cutting of trees
 Limiting factors that depend on population density

1.Diseases and Parasites

Infectious diseases and parasites spread faster in densely populated areas

2.Competition for resources

Organisms with better adaptations to obtain resources will be able to reproduce
more often and its population will grow. The organisms that have limited abilities to
compete for the resources will not reproduce as often may not be fit enough to live
long and can cause their population to decrease.
3.Predation
Plenty of prey are available predators will be able to eat sufficiently does have
energy to reproduce much and increase their numbers. The population of their prey will
begin to decrease as more and more of them are eaten. However the predator population
will eventually reach carrying capacity there will not be enough pray for all the
predators in the population since the predators themselves compete for their prey
resource. As the number of pre decreases so will the number of predators because there
is not enough food to sustain them.
4.Emigration
Emigration occurs when ,as a population approaches it's carrying capacity and
individual organisms live and go to a new area where there can find enough
resources for survival and reproduction this will obviously cause a decrease in the
amount of organisms in a population.