TOPIC 3: Human Population, Carrying Capacity and

Resource Use
Population dynamics
Exponential growth or geometric growth
When the population is growing, and there are no limiting factors slowing the growth.
Density-dependent limiting factors (biotic factors when effects depend on the population
density)
Negative feedback mechanism- lead to stability of the population
Internal factors act within species
1. Limited food supply lead to intraspecific competition
2. Lack of suitable territory
3. Survival of the fittest
External factors act between different species (predation and disease)
1. Predation pray animals increase, predators increase -> pray decreases and the predators
decrease
2. Disease at high populations spreads fast
S-curves
The visual picture of the curves
Start with exponential growth
Then the growth slows down
Finally constant size
Other facts:
Consistent with carrying capacity of the environment
Environmental resistance
Density-independent limiting factors (abiotic factors when effects do not depend on the
population density)
Climate
Weather
Volcanic eruptions
Floods
J- curves
Boom and bust population grows exponentially and suddenly collapses
The collapse is referred to as overshoot
The sudden collapse usually caused by abiotic factors
The J-curves usually occur in:
1. Microbes
2. Invertebrates
3. Fish
4. Small mammals
K-and r-selected species
K-selected species
Long life
Slower growth
Late maturity
Fewer large offspring
High parental care and protection
High investment in individual offspring
Adapted to stable environment
Later stages of succession

 Niche specialists
Predators
Regulated mainly by internal factors
Higher trophic level
Trees, albatrosses, humans
r-selected species
Short life
Rapid growth
Early maturity
Many small offspring
Little parental care or protection
Little investment in individual offspring
Adapted to unstable environment
Pioneers, colonizers
Niche generalists
Prey
Regulated mainly by external factors
Lower trophic level
Examples: annual plants, flour beetles, bacteria
K-and r-selected species are extremes of a continuum. Many species are mixture of both
characteristics.
Demographics study of the dynamics of the population change.
Human Development Index measure:
1. Life expectancy
2. Well being
3. Standards of living
4. GDP
MEDC- industrialized nations with high GDPs.
LEDC- less industrialized nations with lower GDP
Population growth effects on the environment
More people- more recourses- more waste- greater impact
Factors that affect population size:
Crude birth rate number of births per thousand individuals in population per year
Crude death rate the number of deaths per thousand individuals in a population per year.
Immigration
Emigration
Natural increase rate (crude birth rate crude death rate) / 10, which, gives the natural
increase rate as a percentage. It excludes the effects of migration.
Total fertility rate the average number of children each woman has over her lifetime.
Fertility rate the number of births per thousand women of childbearing age. In
reality, replacement fertility ranges from 2.03 in MEDCs to 2.16 in LEDCs because of infant and
childhood mortality.
(Fertility is sometimes considered a synonym for the birth rate)
Human population growth
Demography is the study of the statistical characteristics of human populations, e.g. total size,
age and sex composition ad changes over time with variations in birth and death rates.
Carrying capacity the maximum number of a species or load that can be sustainably

supported by a given environment, without destroying the stock

Populations remain stable when birth rate = death rate
The size of the population is depended on the wealth of the population
Demand for and the exchange of the resources effects the size
All of the above differs in MEDCs and LEDCs
Population growth and food shortages
There are two main theories relating to population growth and food supply, from Malthus and
Boserup
Malthusian theory
Thomas Malthus English clergyman and economist (1766 to 1834)
Published an essay on the principle of population in 1798
Claimed that food supply was the main limit to population growth
Believed that human population increases geometrically, whereas food supplies grows
arithmetically, and as a result, there are much more humans than food supplies
Limitations of Malthusian theory
Too simplistic
Shortage of food is just one possible explanation for the slowing in population growth
It is only poor who go hungry
Globalization is something Malthus could not have expected
Boserup theory
Ester Boserup, a Danish economist (1965)
Increase in population would stimulate technologists to increase food production
Rise in population will increase the demand for food and so act as an incentive to change
agrarian technology and produce more food
Belief that necessity is the mother of invention
Limitations of Boserups theory
Too simplistic view
Like Malthus, his idea is based on the assumption of a closed community.
Emigration and immigration are not considered
Overpopulation can lead to unsuitable faming
Family sizes
Appears that decision to have children is not correlated with GNP of a country nor personal
wealth:
High infant and childhood mortality
Security in old age
Children are an economic asset in agricultural societies
Status of women
Unavailability of contraception
The ways to reduce the family size are to:
Provide education
Improve health
Provide contraception
Increase family income

 Improve resource management

Population Pyramids
These pyramids show how many individuals are alive in different age groups (five-year cohorts) in
a country for any given year. They also show the frequency of males and females. In the
pyramids, population numbers are on the x-axis and the age groups on the y-axis.
The shapes of the pyramids are following:
Expanding (stage 1) high birth rates; rapid fall in each upward age group due to high death
rates; short life expectancy.
Expanding (stage 2) high birth rates; fall in death rates as more living to middle age; slightly
longer life expectancy.
Stationary (stage 3) declining birth rate; low death rate more people living to old age.
Contracting (stage 4) low birth rate; low death rate; higher dependency ratio; longer life
expectancy.
Demographic transition model:
Demographic transition model describes the pattern of decline in mortality and fertility (natality) of
a country as a result of social and economic development.
This model can be described as a five-stage population model, which can be linked to the stages
of the sigmoid growth curve.
The stages are:
Pre- industrial society:
High birth rate due to no birth control;
High infant mortality rates;
Cultural factors encouraging large families.
High death rates due to disease, famine, poor hygiene and a little medicine.
LEDC:
Death rate drops as sanitation and food improve,
Disease is reduced so lifespan increases.
Birth rate is still high so population expands rapidly
Child mortality falls due to improved medicine.
Wealthier LEDC:
Birth rats fall due to access to contraception.
Improved health care, education and emancipation of women.
Population begins to level off and desire for material goods and low infant death rates mean that
people have smaller families.
MEDC:
Low birth rates
Low death rates
Industrialized countries
Stable population sizes
MEDC:
Population may not be replaces as fertility rate is low.
Problems of aging workforce.
Food Resources
Undernourishment, malnourishment Lack of essential nutrients like proteins, vitamins, minerals.

Agriculture
Types of farming systems
Subsistence farming the provision of food by farmers for their own families or the local
community
Cash cropping- growing the food for the market
Commercial farming- large, profit- making scale maximizing yields per hectare. (monoculture)
One type of crop or animal is produced.
Extensive farming more land with lower density of stocking or planting and lower inputs and
corresponding outputs.
Intensive farming using the land more intensively with high levels of input and output per unit
area.
Pastoral farming raising animals on a land which is not suitable for crops.
Arable farming is sowing crops on good soils to eat directly or to feed to animals
Mixed farming has both animals and crops and is a system in itself where animals waster is
used to fertilize the crops and improve soil structure.
Farmings energy budget
A system with inputs, outputs, storages and flows = marketable product sold by weight
Energy balance in farming = fuel, labor, any other energy, soil, sow the seed, harvest the crop,
prepare and package, transport, energy cost of dealing with waster products.
Grain equivalent the quantity of wheat grain that would have to be used to produce one kg of
that product.
Rice Production in Borneo

Traditional, extensive rice production in Indonesian Borneo

- Low inputs of energy and chemicals, high labor intensity and a low productivity.
- No fertilizers and pesticides used
- Rice yield is only output (no pollution)

Intensive rice production in California

- high inputs of energy and chemicals, low labor intensity and a high productivity
- diesel and petrol
- fertilizers (N, P) Pesticides (insecticides and herbicides)
- More energy input than output
- More pollution

Fisheries industrial hunting

According to FAO more than 70% of the worlds fisheries are fully exploited, in decline or
seriously depleted.
The global fish catch is in decline even though technology has improved.
Demand is high and rising but fisherman cannot find or catch enough fish because they are no
longer there
The tragedy of the commons - Tension between the common good and the needs of the
individual and how they can be in conflict.
Exploitation of the oceans is the tragedy of the commons
The Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland were once among the richest fishing grounds on
Earth. Since 1400s its been depleted by various countries.
The United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) international agreement written
over decades that attempts to define the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to the
seas and marine resources.
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY)
Sustainable Yield increase in natural capital
Sustainable yield of the aquifer is the amount that can be taken each year without permanently
decreasing the amount of water stored.
SY = annual growth and recruitment annual death and immigration
Harvesting MSY leads to population decline and thus loss of resource base and an unsustainable
industry or fishery.
Optimal Sustainable Yield (PSY) half the carrying capacity. Safety margin than MSY ut still may
have an impact on population size with other environmental impacts.

Resources- Natural Capital

Natural Capital - Natural resources, services that support life, natural processes. The Goods
and services that are not manufactured but have value to humans.

Natural Income (yield, harvest, services) Yield from the natural capital.
Renewable Resources living resources that can replace or restock themselves. (Alternative
energy resources)
Non-renewable resources- exist in finite amounts on Earth and are not renewed or replaced
after they have been used or depleted. (Minerals and fossil fuels)
Replenishable Resources replaceable but take long period of time. (Groundwater)
Sustainability living within the means of nature, on the interest or sustainable natural
income generated by natural capital.

Tragedy of commons- many individuals who are acting in their own self-interest to harvest
a resource may destroy the long-term future of that resource so there is none for anyone.

Resource Values

Economic marketable goods and services

Ecological- life-support services

Scientific/technological - applications

Intrinsic aesthetic, cultural, spiritual

Urbanization the drifts from the countryside to urban life. Urbanization might eventually
encroach on or degrade natural habitats of the cities.
Globalization- Every society on Earth is connected and unified into a single functioning
entity. (Global trade) Globalization often leads to westernization. Globalization has facilitated
the process of global agreements on global issues.
Human Carrying Capacity Maximum number or load of individuals that an environment can
sustainably carry or support.
Ecocentric - reduce the use of non-renewable resources and minimize their use of renewable
ones.

Technocentric human carrying capacity can be expanded continuously through

technological innovation and development.

Conventional Economists trade and technology increase the carrying capacity.

Ecological Economists technological innovation can only increase the efficiency with which
natural capital is used.
Reuse- object is used more than once. (Drink bottles, secondhand cars)
Recycling objects material is used again to manufacture a ne product. (Aluminum)
Remanufacturing objects material is used to make a new objects of the same type. (Plastic
bottles)
Absolute Reductions use fewer resources (energy, paper)
Ecological footprint area of land that would be required to sustainably provide all of a
particular populations resources and assimilate all its wastes.
Population dynamics
Exponential growth or geometric growth
When the population is growing, and there are no limiting factors slowing the growth.
Density-dependent limiting factors (biotic factors when effects depend on the population
density)
Negative feedback mechanism- lead to stability of the population

 Internal factors act within species

1. Limited food supply lead to intraspecific competition
2. Lack of suitable territory
3. Survival of the fittest
External factors act between different species (predation and disease)
1. Predation pray animals increase, predators increase -> pray decreases and the predators
decrease
2. Disease at high populations spreads fast
S-curves
The visual picture of the curves
Start with exponential growth
Then the growth slows down
Finally constant size
Other facts:
Consistent with carrying capacity of the environment
Environmental resistance
Density-independent limiting factors (abiotic factors when effects do not depend on the
population density)
Climate
Weather
Volcanic eruptions
Floods
J- curves
Boom and bust population grows exponentially and suddenly collapses
The collapse is referred to as overshoot
The sudden collapse usually caused by abiotic factors
The J-curves usually occur in:
1. Microbes
2. Invertebrates
3. Fish
4. Small mammals
K-and r-selected species
K-selected species
Long life
Slower growth
Late maturity
Fewer large offspring
High parental care and protection
High investment in individual offspring
Adapted to stable environment
Later stages of succession
Niche specialists
Predators
Regulated mainly by internal factors
Higher trophic level

 Trees, albatrosses, humans

r-selected species
Short life
Rapid growth
Early maturity
Many small offspring
Little parental care or protection
Little investment in individual offspring
Adapted to unstable environment
Pioneers, colonizers
Niche generalists
Prey
Regulated mainly by external factors
Lower trophic level
Examples: annual plants, flour beetles, bacteria
K-and r-selected species are extremes of a continuum. Many species are mixture of both
characteristics.
Demographics study of the dynamics of the population change.
Human Development Index measure:
1. Life expectancy
2. Well being
3. Standards of living
4. GDP
MEDC- industrialized nations with high GDPs.
LEDC- less industrialized nations with lower GDP
Population growth effects on the environment
More people- more recourses- more waste- greater impact
Factors that affect population size:
Crude birth rate number of births per thousand individuals in population per year
Crude death rate the number of deaths per thousand individuals in a population per year.
Immigration
Emigration
Natural increase rate (crude birth rate crude death rate) / 10, which, gives the natural
increase rate as a percentage. It excludes the effects of migration.
Total fertility rate the average number of children each woman has over her lifetime.
Fertility rate the number of births per thousand women of childbearing age. In
reality, replacement fertility ranges from 2.03 in MEDCs to 2.16 in LEDCs because of infant and
childhood mortality.
(Fertility is sometimes considered a synonym for the birth rate)
Human population growth
Demography is the study of the statistical characteristics of human populations, e.g. total size,

age and sex composition ad changes over time with variations in birth and death rates.
Carrying capacity the maximum number of a species or load that can be sustainably
supported by a given environment, without destroying the stock
Populations remain stable when birth rate = death rate
The size of the population is depended on the wealth of the population
Demand for and the exchange of the resources effects the size
All of the above differs in MEDCs and LEDCs
Population growth and food shortages
There are two main theories relating to population growth and food supply, from Malthus and
Boserup
Malthusian theory
Thomas Malthus English clergyman and economist (1766 to 1834)
Published an essay on the principle of population in 1798
Claimed that food supply was the main limit to population growth
Believed that human population increases geometrically, whereas food supplies grows
arithmetically, and as a result, there are much more humans than food supplies
Limitations of Malthusian theory
Too simplistic
Shortage of food is just one possible explanation for the slowing in population growth
It is only poor who go hungry
Globalization is something Malthus could not have expected
Boserup theory
Ester Boserup, a Danish economist (1965)
Increase in population would stimulate technologists to increase food production
Rise in population will increase the demand for food and so act as an incentive to change
agrarian technology and produce more food
Belief that necessity is the mother of invention
Limitations of Boserups theory
Too simplistic view
Like Malthus, his idea is based on the assumption of a closed community.
Emigration and immigration are not considered
Overpopulation can lead to unsuitable faming
Family sizes
Appears that decision to have children is not correlated with GNP of a country nor personal
wealth:
High infant and childhood mortality
Security in old age

 Children are an economic asset in agricultural societies

Status of women
Unavailability of contraception
The ways to reduce the family size are to:
Provide education
Improve health
Provide contraception
Increase family income
Improve resource management
Population Pyramids
These pyramids show how many individuals are alive in different age groups (five-year cohorts) in
a country for any given year. They also show the frequency of males and females. In the
pyramids, population numbers are on the x-axis and the age groups on the y-axis.
The shapes of the pyramids are following:
Expanding (stage 1) high birth rates; rapid fall in each upward age group due to high death
rates; short life expectancy.
Expanding (stage 2) high birth rates; fall in death rates as more living to middle age; slightly
longer life expectancy.
Stationary (stage 3) declining birth rate; low death rate more people living to old age.
Contracting (stage 4) low birth rate; low death rate; higher dependency ratio; longer life
expectancy.
Demographic transition model:
Demographic transition model describes the pattern of decline in mortality and fertility (natality) of
a country as a result of social and economic development.
This model can be described as a five-stage population model, which can be linked to the stages
of the sigmoid growth curve.
The stages are:
Pre- industrial society:
High birth rate due to no birth control;
High infant mortality rates;
Cultural factors encouraging large families.
High death rates due to disease, famine, poor hygiene and a little medicine.
LEDC:
Death rate drops as sanitation and food improve,
Disease is reduced so lifespan increases.
Birth rate is still high so population expands rapidly
Child mortality falls due to improved medicine.
Wealthier LEDC:

 Birth rats fall due to access to contraception.

Improved health care, education and emancipation of women.
Population begins to level off and desire for material goods and low infant death rates mean that
people have smaller families.
MEDC:
Low birth rates
Low death rates
Industrialized countries
Stable population sizes
MEDC:
Population may not be replaces as fertility rate is low.
Problems of aging workforce.
Energy Resources
Source sun.
Fossil fuels are sources of stored energy from the sun
Oil is the economys largest source at the moment, supplying 37% of all the energy we use.
Coal is the next largest, supplying 25%
Natural gas supplying 23%
How much longer for fossil fuels?
The common estimates include:
Oil 50 years
Natural gas 70 years
Coal - 250 years
Will eventually run out, as they are non-renewable energy sources.
Depends on:
Our rate of use
Technologies
Efficiency of humans
How successful humans are at finding new sources
How successful humans are at finding and extracting more.
If the wealth of humans increase
The population of humans
Demand increase or decrease
Evaluation of energy sources and their advantages and disadvantages
Non-renewable
Coal (fossil fuel)
From
Fossilized plants laid down in the carboniferous period
Mined from seams of coal which are in strata between other types of rock
May be open cast mined (large pits) or by tunnels underground.
Burnt to provide heat directly or electricity by burning to turbines in power stations.

Advantages
Plentiful supply
Easy to transport and solid
Needs no processing
Relatively cheap to mine and convert to energy by burning
Up to 250 years of coal left
Disadvantages
Non-renewable energy source
Cannot be replaced once used (same for oil and gas)
Burning releases carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas
Some coals contain up to 10% sulfur.
Burning sulfur forms sulfur dioxide which causes acid deposition
Particles of soot from burning coal produce smog and lung disease.
Coal mines leave degraded land and pollution.
Lower heat of combustion than other fossil fuels (less energy released per unit mass)

Oil (fossil fuel)

From

Fossilized plants and micro-organisms that are compressed to a liquid and found in porous
rocks
Crude oil is refined by fractional distillation to give a variety of products from lighter jet fuels and
petrol to heavier diesel and bitumen.
Extracted by oil wells.
Many oil fields are under the oceans so extraction is dangerous
Pipes are drilled down to the oil-bearing rocks to pump the oil out.
Most of the world economy runs on oil either burnt directly in transport and industry or to
generate electricity

Advantages

High heat of combustion

Many uses
Once found is relatively cheap to mine
Easily converted into energy
Disadvantages
Only a limited supply
May run out in 20-50 years
Gives off carbon dioxide when burned
Oil spill danger from tanker accidents.
Risk of terrorism in attacking oil pipes
Greenhouse gas effect

Natural gas (fossil fuel)

From

Methane gas and other hydrocarbons trapped between seams of rock

Extracted by drilling like crude oil
Often found with crude oil
Used directly in homes for domestic heating and cooking
Advantages

Highest heat of combustion

Lot of energy gained from it
Ready- made fuel
Relatively cheap form of energy
Cleaner fuel than coal and oil

Disadvantages

Only limited supply of gas but more than oil

About 70 years left (according to current usage)
Gives off carbon dioxide but only half as much per unit of energy produced as coal
Nuclear fission

From

Uranium is the raw material. This is a radioactive and is split in nuclear reactors by bombarding
it with neutrons
As it splits into plutonium and other elements, massive amounts of energy are also released
Uranium is mined
Australia has the most known reserves
Canada exports the most
Other countries have smaller amounts
About 80 years worth left to mine at current rates
Could be extracted from sea water

Advantages

Raw materials are relatively cheap once the reactor is built and can last quite a long time
Small mass of radioactive material produces a huge amount of energy
No carbon dioxide released nor other pollutants (unless there are accidents)
Disadvantages

 Extraction costs high.

Nuclear reactors are expensive to build and run
Nuclear waste is still radioactive and highly toxic
Big question of what to do with it
Needs storage for 1000s of years
May be stored in mine shafts or under the sea
Accidental leakage of radiation can be devastating.
Accidents are rare but worst nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine was in 1986
Risk of uranium and plutonium being used to make nuclear weapons

Renewable

Hydroelectric power (HEP)

From

Energy harnessed from the movement of water through rivers, lakes and dams to power
turbines to generate electricity
Pumped-storage reservoirs power turbines
Advantages

High quality energy output compared with low quality energy input
Creates water reserves as well as energy supplies.
Reservoirs used for recreation, amenity
Safety record is good.
Disadvantages

Costly to build
Can cause the flooding of surrounding communities
Dams have major ecological impacts on local hydrology
Silting of dams
Downstream lack of water
Risk of flooding if dam bursts
Biogas

From

Decaying organic plant or animal waste are used to produce methane in biogas generators or

burnt directly as dung/plant material

More processing can give oils which can be used as fuel in vehicles instead of diesel fuel =
biofuels

Advantages

Cheap
Available
If the crops are replanted, biogas can be a long-term, sustainable energy source

Disadvantages

May be replacing food crops on a finite crop land and lead to starvation
When burnt, it still gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse gases.
If crops are not replanted, biomass is a non-renewable resource.

Wood

From

Felling or copping trees.

Burnt to generate heat and light

Advantages

Cheap
Available
If the crops are replanted, biogas can be a long-term, sustainable energy source

Disadvantages

Low heat of combustion

Not much energy released for its mass
When burnt, it gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse gases
If trees are not replanted wood is a non-renewable resource.
High cost of transportation as high volume.

Solar photo volcanic cells

From
Conversion of solar radiation into electricity via chemical energy
Advantages
Infinite energy supply
Safe
Low quality energy converted to high.
Disadvantages
Manufacture and implementation of solar panels can be costly.
Need sunshine, do now work in the dark
Solar-passive
From
Using buildings or panels to capture and store heat
Advantages
Minimal cost if properly designed.
Wind
From:
Can be found singly, but usually many together in wind farms
Advantages
Clean energy and supply once turbines made
Little maintenance required
Disadvantages
Need the wind to blow
Often windy sites not near highly populated areas
Manufacture and implementation of wind farms can be costly
Noise pollution
Some local people object to on-shore wind farms, arguing that it spoils countryside
Question of whether birds are killed or migration routes disturbed by turbines
Tidal
From:
The movement of sea water in and out drives turbines
A tidal barrage is built across estuaries, forcing water through gaps
In future underwater turbines may be possible out at sea and without dam
Advantages
Should be ideal for an isolated country such as the UK
Potential to generate a lot of energy this way
Tidal barrage can double as bridge, and help prevent flooding

Disadvantages
Very costly
Few estuaries are suitable
Opposed by some environmental groups as having a negative impact on wildlife
May reduce tidal flow and impede flow of sewage out to sea
Wave
From
The movement of sea water in and out of cavity on the shore compresses trapped air, driving a
turbine
Advantages
Should be ideal for an island country
These are more likely to be small local operations
Can be done on a national scale
Disadvantages
Construction can be costly
May be opposed by local or environmental groups.
Storms may damage them
Geothermal
From
It is possible to use the heat inside the Earth in volcanic regions.
Cold water is pumped into the Earth and comes out as steam
Steam can be used for heating or to power turbines creating electricity.
Advantages
Infinite energy supply
Is used successfully in some countries, such as New Zealand.
Disadvantages
Can be expensive to set up
Only works in areas of volcanic activity
Geothermal activity might calm down, leaving power station redundant
Dangerous underground gases have to be disposed carefully
Nuclear fusion energy can be released by the fusion of two nuclei of light elements