Biological Population Densities
Population density is population divided by total land area or water volume, as appropriate.
Low densities may cause an extinction vortex and lead to further reduced fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it. Examples of the causes in low population densities include:
- Increased problems with locating sexual mates
- Increased inbreeding
Different species have different expected densities. R-selected species commonly have high population densities, while K-selected species may have lower densities. Low densities may be associated with specialized mate location adaptations such as specialized pollinators, as found in the orchid family (Orchidaceae).
Read more about this topic: Population Density
Famous quotes containing the words biological and/or population:
“If the most significant characteristic of man is the complex of biological needs he shares with all members of his species, then the best lives for the writer to observe are those in which the role of natural necessity is clearest, namely, the lives of the very poor.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through! Our statistics are at fault: the population has been returned too large. How many men are there to a square thousand miles in this country? Hardly one.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)