Human population

• Pre-industrial - (Slow Growth) High birth rate and high death rate due to lack of technological advancements and poor sanitary condition (environmental resistance). War and pandemics are key factors in population change.
• Transitional - (Rapid Growth) High birth rate and low death rate due to modern medicine and food production, but a slow shift in cultural changes.
• Industrial - (Slow Growth to Zero Growth) Lower birth rate and stable death rate due to improved economic conditions, increases in women’s status and access to contraception.  As the economy flourishes education levels rise, health care access improves and women enter the workforce/career oriented.
• Post-industrial - (Zero Growth to Negative Growth) Low birth rates and low death rates due to women’s rights and the delay of childbirth.  Health care and social services easily accessible and elderly live longer.
• Most useful indicators of overall health:

  1. Life Expectancy
  2. Infant Mortality rate
• Carrying Capacity - the maximum population size of a species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities available in the environment. 
• Logistic (S) vs Exponential (J)
• Zero population growth: when the number of births is equal to the number of deaths
• Sustainability: The ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• GDP per capita is the best indicator of standard of living (economic prosperity) in a country.
• Provisioning services:

  • Definition: benefits to people that can be extracted from nature
  • Examples: food (fruits, vegetables, trees, fish, livestock), drinking water, timber, wood fuel, natural gas, oils, plants for clothes, medicinal benefits
• Regulating services:

  • Definition: benefits provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural phenomena
  • Examples: pollination, decomposition, water purification, erosion and flood control, carbon storage, climate regulation
• Cultural services provided by ecosystems:

  • Ecosystems play a role in local, national, and global cultures
  • Contribute to the building of knowledge and the spreading of ideas
  • Foster creativity through interactions with nature (e.g., music, art, architecture)
• Supporting services of ecosystems:

  • Fundamental natural processes like photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, soil creation, and the water cycle sustain ecosystems
  • These processes allow the Earth to sustain basic life forms and entire ecosystems