Chapter 19, Problem 1SQ

What two values would you need to know to figure out the human population density of your community?

Summary Introduction

To identify:

The two values necessary to figure out the population density of a community.

Introduction:

Population refers to a group of individual living things of the same species dwelling in a particular geographic area. Population ecology deals with the factors that affect the density and growth of the population.

Explanation of Solution

The population density may be defined as the number of individuals from a specific species living in a specific region per volume or area of the habitat. For example, the number of a specific tree per km² in a forest or the number of a specific fish per km³ of a lake. The size of the area and the number of individuals of a species living in that area are the two main values that an individual need to know to figure out the population density of a community.

Formula to calculate population density:

$\text{Population}\text{density}\text{=}\frac{\text{Number}\text{of}\text{individual}}{\text{Size}\text{of}\text{the land}\text{area}}$

Rarely, ecologists actually count all the individuals of a specific species living within the particular boundaries of the population. However, in most cases, it is impossible to count all the individuals of a specific species in a population. On such occasions, ecologists use various sampling techniques to determine the population density.

Conclusion

The two main values to figure out the population density of a community are the size of the area and the number of individuals living in that specific area.