2 Friday Sept 11: What is a population?

For the questions below, submit your answers to Brightspace ideally before the next class. The deadline to submit your answers is Friday Sept 18.

The Resources below are sufficient to answer all the questions, however, you are encouraged to find your own textbooks or peer-reviewed articles to answer the questions if you feel comfortable. You can search for textbooks using and the library catalogue and peer-reviewed articles using Web of Science.

2.1 Questions

  1. Give a definition of a population from a textbook or peer-reviewed publication. Provide the citation. [2 marks]

  2. Find a peer-reviewed paper where a population is studied. Write 1 paragraph discussing how a population is defined for the study and how this compares to your definition of a population given in Question 1. [5 marks]

2.2 Resources

Vandermeer, J.H., Goldberg, D.E., 2013. Population Ecology: First Principles (Second Edition). Princeton University Press, Princeton, United States. Link

The Princeton Guide to Ecology, edited by Simon A. Levin, et al., Princeton University Press, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central, Link

Sacchi, R., Gentilli, A., Razzetti, E., Barbieri, F., 2002. Effects of building features on density and flock distribution of feral pigeons Columba livia var. domestica in an urban environment. Can. J. Zool. 80, 48-54. Link