Chapter 45 – Population and Community Ecology

Introduction

Main photo shows fish jumping out of the water, and inset photo shows a pile of dead fish in a container.
Figure 45.1 Asian carp jump out of the water in response to electrofishing. The Asian carp in the photograph on the right were harvested from the Little Calumet River in Illinois in May, 2010, using rotenone, a toxin often used as an insecticide, in an effort to learn more about the population of the species. (credit left image: modification of work by USGS; credit right image: modification of work by Lt. David French, USCG)

Chapter Outline

45.1 Population Demography
45.2 Life Histories and Natural Selection
45.3 Environmental Limits to Population Growth
45.4 Population Dynamics and Regulation
45.5 Human Population Growth
45.6 Community Ecology
45.7 Behavioral Biology: Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Behavior

Imagine sailing down a river in a small motorboat on a weekend afternoon; the water is smooth and you are enjoying the warm sunshine and cool breeze when suddenly you are hit in the head by a 20-pound silver carp. This is now a risk on many rivers and canal systems in Illinois and Missouri because of the presence of Asian carp.

This fish—actually a group of species including the silver, black, grass, and big head carp—has been farmed and eaten in China for over 1000 years. It is one of the most important aquaculture food resources worldwide. In the United States, however, Asian carp is considered a dangerous invasive species that disrupts community structure and composition to the point of threatening native species.

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Biology 2e for Biol 111 and Biol 112 Copyright © 2023 by Mary Ann Clark; Jung Choi; and Matthew Douglas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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