Human Population, dawgg

                              Human Population





VOCAB!

CBR-(Crude Birth Rate) The number of births per one-thousand people a year.

CDR-(Crude Death Rate) The number of deaths per one-thousand people a year.

TFR- (Total Fertility Rate) The average amount of children will have during her childbearing years.

Replacement Level Fertility- The total fertility rate required for canceling out or replacing the number of deaths that also happened that year.

Population Momentum- continuing population growth that does not slow down because of growth reduction measures.

Net Migration Rate- The difference between immigrants coming into a country and people leaving the country per 1,000 people.

Family Planning- The practice of planning a family through birth control and counseling.

Affluence- Owning large amounts of wealth, property or goods.

IPAT equation-environmental impact = population x affluence x destructive technology

GDP-(Gross Domestic Product)- The value of all products and services produced in a given year in a country.

Population Pyramid-

High Growth Rate in a country-

Stable Growth in a country-

Declining population in country-

Making Connections

A demographic transition is a series of stages that a country goes through when transitioning from non-industrial to industrial. With each stage there is a significant amount of environmental impact happening in stages. Demographic transition starts with the first stage being pre-industrial meaning the population is stable with high birth and death rates this pre-industrial stage is followed by a transitional stage meaning the death rates are decreasing and the birth rates are increasing this leads to the third stage of demographic transition which is the industrial stage. The industrial stage has a growing population. This demographic transition has a great impact on the earth. As each population in a country is rapidly growing so is the pressure onto the earth.   Rich countries or more industrialized countries tend to, consume, and pollute far more than poor countries.

Current Event

https://freedomhouse.org/blog/china-population-control-machine-churns#.VHudCCjN7ww

In 1979 China introduced their “one-child” policy meaning that each family could only give birth to one child. However, recently the Chinese government has announced an adjustment to its “one-child” policy. All couples to have two children if either spouse is an only child. Before every baby is born the parent must apply for a government-issued birth permit so that the baby can be born legally this permit is known to be frustrating but generally tolerable. After a woman’s has exceeded her maximum births in her life she is recommended by the government to get her tubes tied. This procedure is extremely important because if she does not get it done and receive the legal document saying she did then her child can be denied from school. With any policy there are pros and cons, however this policy has many cons. A major con is that the government should not control what a person does with their body. Another con is the discrimination that comes along for women who do not get their tubes tied, with any surgery there are complications and medical expenses if a person does not wish to endear these burdens they should not have to. The main pro with this policy is the control of the population, China’s population is growing rapidly which is dangerous to the people and the environment, limiting the population would decrease pollution and all together allow the country to function better.

Reflection-

Human Impact- human activity has an ultimate impact on human population. For example, the demographic transition is made by the industrialization of a country. It takes the impact of the humans of the country to push for industrialization. A women’s group in China also protested for the “government to stay out of their womb” because of the governments regulations on childbirth.

Environmental Impact- Over population has taken a toll on many environments, as seen in the final industrialization stage as countries industrialize and populations grow the people who are being born need a place to stay which results in the building of houses, business, roads and much more which is resulting in pollution and lack of nature hurting animals and plants.

Economic Impact- Although demographic transition tends to have a negative effect on land it has a positive effect to the economy.  As population grows and cities industrialize jobs are also open which means there are more people working. A less industrialized country, like the one shown in the human population documentary shown in class, tends to have more poverty with little jobs or money income.

Government Legislation- The Chinese government passed the “one-child” policy stating that each family could bear only one child until 2013 when they decided each family could bear two under certain circumstances. The government also passed several requirements a set of parents must do before they have their child.

Unit 4 Blog Post, yo

Vocabulary!

Species RichnessThe number of species in a given area

Species Evenness  The relative proportion of different 

species in a given area.

Microevolution Evolution occurring below the species level.

Macroevolution Evolution that gives rise to new species, genera, families, classes, or phyla.

Evolution by Natural Selection A change in the genetic composition of a population over time as a result of the environment determining  which individuals are most likely to survive and reproduce. 

Evolution by Artificial Selection  A change in the genetic composition of a population over time as a result of humans selecting which individuals  are most likely to survive and reproduce. 

Allopatric Speciation The process of speciation that occurs with geographic isolation.

Sympatric Speciation This evolution of one species  into two, without geographic isolation.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) An organism produced by copying genes from a species with a desirable trait and inserting them into another species.

Fundamental Niche The suite of ideal environmental 

conditions for a species.

Exponential Growth Model  A growth model that estimates a populations future size after a period of time based on the intrinsic growth rate and the number of 

reproducing individuals currently in the population.

Logistic Growth Model A growth model that describes a population whose growth is initially exponential, but slows as the population approaches the carrying capacity of the environment.

Carrying Capacity the limit of how many individuals in a population the food supply can sustain.

Keystone Species a species that is far more important in its community than its relative abundance might  suggest. (Beyonce is the supreme)

 Biodiversity Hotspot!

What is a biodiversity hotspot and why are they important?

A biodiversity hotspot is an isolated location that is very small and holds Endemic species, which is species that live in a very small area of the world and nowhere else. These areas end up holding a high proportion of all species on earth, which is why they serve such a grand importance.

Where is your hotspot located and what type of ecosystem is present there?

The hotspot I’ve chosen is the Horn of Africa and the ecosystem present there is the Savanna. Savannas are tropical grasslands with warm temperatures year-round

Describe at lease one endemic plant species and animal species found here.  Explain what it means to be an endemic species.

To be an Endemic species means that the species must live in a small are of the world and nowhere else. One of the endemic plant species in my hotspot is the cucumber tree, which is only found on Socotra. This plant holds a high importance because it has a massive water storing trunk and tendrils (a slender threadlike appendage of a climbing plant on its branches.) An endemic species found on the horn of Africa would be the Beira, which is one of the several types of endemic antelope species in the hotspot. The Beira is known to stay in dry and inhospitable hills and mountains of northern Somalia, eastern Ethiopia and Djibouti this is where it can survive without water.

 Cucumber tree

beira antelope 

Describe the human induced and/or natural reasons why biodiversity is decreasing in the area.

Human activity is a great threat to the Horn of Africa making it one of the most degraded hotspots in the world, with only about 5% of original habitat in relative condition. A major threat caused by humans in the hotspot is the production of charcoal. Charcoal is made from the Acacia bussei and the production is rapidly causing the decline of the plant, which is hurting the structure of the ecosystem. A major reason why there are threats such as this is due to the fact that the hotspot has a lack of governance and political instability. If the hotspot were better governed then there would be laws in place to protect the ecosystem.

 part of charcoal production

Explain what is being done to protect the area.

At first Africa’s 41 protected area cover nearly 9% of the land area and not all ranges were able to do something but the United Nations Development Program has begun a major program for "Sustainable Development and Biodiversity Conservation for the People of the Socotra Islands," which is a 5 year program financed with United States (whoop represent #amurica!) $5 million from UNDP and the governments of Italy and Yemen specifically to support the people of Socotra through conservation and sustainable use of the islands' 

unique biodiversity and natural resources 

Pick a side!

Certain conditions do lead to species extinction. Since the world was created (or since we as humans believe) there have been periods of global mass extinction. Different things have caused each mass extinction and each one happened differently but because of certain resources we are able to know more about these mass extinctions for example, fossils. Fossil records have made scientists able to know what once roamed the earth. Some extinction are not as big as a mass extinction but are smaller such as evolution by artificial or natural selection.  Evolution by artificial selection is when humans are influencing the species usually by breeding, humans have caused many species to go extinct by only breeding types of sheep, pigs, cattle, dogs, chickens and more by using the traits that they seem to fit the humans needs best. Natural selection however, is not caused by humans hence “natural”, since it lets nature run its course by allowing nature to determine which species can survive and reproduce. These species only survive by adaptations which is a species ability to adapt when there is a change in its ecosystem.

Reflection!

Economics and Human Interaction:

Money of course rules the world so it has a HUGE impact on everything. As talked about in my hotspot questions, the Horn of Africa suffers endangerment because of the charcoal industry. The charcoal industry is one of the few opportunities the people have to make money to sustain their lives and support their families so they work very hard to produce this charcoal, which is hurting the land. The people need their money to survive but their survival necessities unfortunately cause the decline of the important Acacia Bussei plant, which has an ultimately negative effect on the ecosystem. Since money makes the world go round these people have no choice but to work and hurt the ecosystem. Because economics have created a hard ship on humans, human interaction have caused a hardship on the ecosystem. It 

Government legislation

Fortunately in the United States we have many laws regarding the environment and what can be built where or how many hours factories can be open for, due to pollution smoke, and these laws are what keep America beautiful so in countries like Africa this may not always be the case. Because of the very bad financial situation in Africa, the Horn of Africa does not have laws to protect its environment so when the people of the community are mass producing charcoal and hurting the ecosystem the government of Africa is not able to do anything about it.

is just a big chain reaction mess.

Environmental impact:

Although the government of Africa is limited to what they can do the countries around Africa have been able to help out. The United States and Italy along with the United Nations and many others have partnered together to create the Sustainable Development and Biodiversity Conservation for the People of Socotra Islands which has helped the land and people who cannot afford to sustain their land.