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The development of population ecology owes much to the mathematical models known as population dynamics, which were originally formulae derived from demography at the end of the 18th and beginning of 19th century. [8] The beginning of population dynamics is widely regarded as the work of Malthus, [9] formulated as the Malthusian growth model.
Source–sink dynamics is a theoretical model used by ecologists to describe how variation in habitat quality may affect the population growth or decline of organisms.. Since quality is likely to vary among patches of habitat, it is important to consider how a low quality patch might affect a population.
[23] Hybridization among populations may increase population gene flow and reduce the effects of natural selection. [ 24 ] [ 25 ] Hybridization here is defined as when different but adjacent varieties of the same species (or generally of the same taxonomic rank ) interbreed, which helps overcome local selection. [ 1 ]
Declines in population size can result in a loss of genetic diversity, and owing to genetic variation's role in the evolutionary potential of a species, this could in turn result in an observable Allee effect. As a species' population becomes smaller, its gene pool will be reduced in size as well.
A bear with a salmon. Interspecific interactions such as predation are a key aspect of community ecology.. In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage.
In ecology, a population is a group of organisms of the same species which inhabit the same geographical area and are capable of interbreeding. [2] [3] The area of a sexual population is the area where interbreeding is possible between any opposite-sex pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals from other areas.
Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeography, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history. Ecology is a branch of biology, and is the study of abundance, biomass, and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment.
The term population biology has been used with different meanings. In 1971, Edward O. Wilson et al. used the term in the sense of applying mathematical models to population genetics, community ecology, and population dynamics. [1] Alan Hastings used the term in 1997 as the title of his book on the mathematics used in population dynamics. [2]