In this video Paul Andersen explains how population ecology studies the density, distribution, size, sex ration, and age structure of populations. Intrinsic growth rate and exponential growth calculations are included along with a discussion of logistic growth. K-selected and r-selected species are explained along with survivorship curves.
Population ecology is the study of groups within a species that interact mostly with each other, and it examines how they live together in one geographic area to understand why these populations are different in one time and place than they are in another. How is that in any way useful to anyone ever? Hank uses the example a of West Nile virus outbreak in Texas to show you in this episode of Crash Course: Ecology.