Chapter 39, Problem 1.1Q

Summary Introduction

To define: Population size and population density and describe the unit of measure.

Introduction: Population is the number of people living together in a particular place. Various environmental and genetic factors affect the survival of an individual.

Explanation of Solution

Population size is the total number of individuals in a population. For example, a particular population of birds in a specific location might consist of 50 birds or many more. Size of the population influences the chance of species survival. Generally smaller the size of population, the lesser will be chances of survival. For the measurement of population size, one can use method that is described as follows:

• Cluster sampling: According to this, a selecting subset of the population of interest is used to find out the entire population.
• Spatial sampling: In this geographical information system is used for determining the population size.

Population density is the measurement of population per unit area and sometimes per unit volume. In simple terms,  population density is the number of people living in an area per kilometer square. Population density is measured by three ways that include arithmetic density, physiological density, and agricultural density.