<aside> š¦ Today, you are going to learn about populations and how they function! Populations exist and thrive all around us. There are billions of animal populations around the world, but to study them, luckily, we need only look in our own backyard. Thankfully, our friend Danny the Duck agreed to take us on a tour of his pond and explain how different populations function within it.
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Hi everyone! Welcome to my pond. While we waddle around, Iām going to tell you a bit about my home. Letās start by talking about what defines a population. A population is a group of individuals within the same species that all live in the same area. For example, here in the pond, I live with many other ducks and their families. Because the other ducks and I are part of the same species (meaning that we share similar characteristics and are able to breed successfully), and because we live in the pond together, we form a population.
Usually, things run pretty smoothly around the pond, but sometimes conditions fluctuate (change), which can impact both the health and size of our duck population. We ducks donāt live alone in this pond, either. In fact, our pond is also home to many other populations of different species, and we share the space with them. Biological ācommunitiesā are made up of multiple populations, and these populations depend on one another to survive. If something goes wrong with one population, it often impacts the rest of us.
For example, Frederick the Fish here can remember the year when all the snails went missing. That year, us ducks had a hard time finding food, and as a result we werenāt able to survive and hatch new ducklings at the rate that we normally do. Things that can change the growth of our population (like the availability of resources such as food, water, and space), are called limiting factors. Some other limiting factors include disease, competition for resources, and predators, like that mean old Randy the Racoon.
Other parts of the environment can affect our population growth. High birth rates (when we ducks lay lots of eggs and hatch many ducklings), and high immigration rates (when ducks from neighboring ponds move into our pond), means the duck population grows. On the other hand, high death rates (when lots of us ducks get eaten by Randy the Racoon), and high emigration rates (when ducks from our pond move away), can lower the number of ducks, as well as the growth of our population.
Humans, like you, can also impact the populations in our pond. When humans build buildings and houses near the pond, they cut down plants and trees, changing our habitat and our biological community. Some animal populations can get used to this, but others cannot, and are hurt by these changes. Pollution, which weāll learn more about later, can also harm plant and animal populations. Tina the Tadpole has heard tales about a neighboring pond that was filled with bits of plastic from humans who didnāt throw away their trash properly.
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Well, I think thatās about it for the tour! Thanks for waddling along with me and letting me quack on about our duck population. Come again soon! Sincerely, Danny the Duck.
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