ENVIR ST 260 1st Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Last Lecture I. Run-Through of Syllabus Outline of Current Lecture I. PopulationsA. Why Study Population?B. Definition of PopulationC. Population Ecology and Growth II. E-Writing AssignmentCurrent Lecture Populations Levels of Study Ecology can be studied at many levels ranging from individuals to the entire planet. The categories are broad, but we follow this general organizational structure. Individuals are the narrowest and the biosphere is the broadest levels of study. Once can learn a lot from individuals and get a good sense of what they look and act like. However, there are a lot of limitations.- Example: If you study just one person who is tall, you might assume that everybody is tall. A lot of people study at a population level. The more individuals you study, the betteridea you have about averages.  A populations is a group of individuals of the same species living in the same place at thesame time A group of individualsThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Of the same species- Interbreeding individuals- Important because the species have to have a generational continuity and pass on genetic information Living in the same place at the same time- Important because the population has access to the same resources and is underthe same environmental pressures.- Same conditions and environmental factors- Assigning a place to population study is arbitrary and a little fuzzy- Can range from city limits, to county boundaries, to statewide to nationwide. Population ecology: Study of the distribution and abundance of a given species in a specified area at a given time Two big questions:- SIZE: Why are the populations the size they are?- How many are there? Many or few? With endangered species there’s a small population due to things such as hunting pressure or loss of habitat. However, we’re not concerned so much with the number, but we want to know why.- How old are the individuals? Sex ratios? Age and sex ratios are interesting things we can look at. Why are they the way they are?- GROWTH: How does a population grow?- Fast or slow? Shrinking? Population Growth- There are two graphs you’ll typically see when looking at population growth with the X axis being time and the Y axis being the number of individuals.- Exponential: The population is growing. This is what we expect to see with populations over time: they start out with few and get many- - Logistic: The population begins growing quickly but then levels out over time. They level out because of limitations on resources. For example, a water source may only be able to support a limited number of individuals- World Population- It’s exponential. Human population growth is exponential. We haven’t leveled out yet. E-Writing Assignment Feedback in cycles. Low stakes point at start and higher at the end. Overview will be on Moodle. Additional information will be posted as we get closer to those parts of the assignment. Three parts – ongoing throughout the semester Overview and details for PART 1 on Moodle Additional details will be added soon E-writing goal Recognize that we are part of an ecosystem and we have a lot of influence. Explore the impact of individual choices and do it in a creative way Explore the ecological impacts of an individual choices Use a creative medium E-writing – end product Make an appointment for help with design lab. E-writings are like graphic essays and theory comics. Take the usual essay that’s all just text, but add pictures and color andtweak the font size. Include photos and present them in a way that is visually appealing to a reader.  Link to design lab on moodle. However, we’ll start smaller. We’re starting with an essay. Examples on the Design lab web page Phase 1 – Essay (detailed PDF on Moodle) What is one action/behavior you have with a positive impact on the environment? What is one action/behavior that has a negative impact? Why did you make these choices? What happens when that impact is scaled up to a larger population?- Just use google to