MODULE 2 – LESSON 1

Activity:
Answer the following questions:
1. What is population ecology?
The study of the number of individuals of a specific species found in a given location and
why those numbers rise or decrease over time.

2. How do each of the following affect population size: birth rate, death rate, immigration, and
emigration?
 Birth rate – This factor affect population size as the increasing rate of birth rate would
signify to increase the food production, sustainability of renewable water resources, and
other necessary resources that each human being in an household would consume.
 Death rate – The effect of mortality on population structures is that it reduces the
population component in which the mortality occurs. This would have the outcome of
significantly increasing the population in the upper age categories.
 Immigration – Can have an impact on a country's economic and population growth.
Promotes increased cultural diversity, but may result in overpopulation in other nations
chosen by immigrants.
 Emigration - When a large number of people emigrate to another country, their origin
country suffers from under population or population decrease. Might also affect the
economic growth of their original country.

3. How do biotic potential and/or carrying capacity produce the J-shaped and S-shaped
population growth curves?
 When the resources are abundant, populations rise rapidly, resulting in a J-shaped curve.
When resources are scarce, populations expand logistically. As resources become scarce,
population expansion slows in logistic growth. When the environment's carrying capacity is
reached, it levels off, resulting in an S-shaped curve.

4. How would you describe human population growth for the past 200 years?
To be honest, I believe that human population growth has been rapid over the last 200
years. Because of reduced mortality rates, a younger population, better living conditions, and
attitudes and behaviors that encourage high fertility.

5. Who was Thomas Malthus, and what were his views on human population growth?
Thomas Malthus was a British economist who lived from 1766 to 1834. Stating that
human population can grow faster than food supply, he spoke of the unavoidable consequences
of population growth: hunger, illness, and conflict.

6. When determining Earth’s carrying capacity for humans, why is it not enough to just consider
human numbers?
There are limits to the earth's ability to provide us with life-sustaining resources. In other
words, our earth has a carrying capacity for human life. The carrying capacity of a habitat is the
maximum number of species that it can support indefinitely. Every species, including humans,
has a carrying capacity. Ecologists, on the other hand, have a tough time calculating human
carrying capacity. Humans are a difficult species to understand. We do not reproduce, consume
resources, or interact with our living environment in a consistent manner. I believe that simply
examining human numbers is insufficient, because carrying capacity estimations necessitate
forecasting future demographics, resource availability, technological developments, and
economic development.

Application
What is happening in this picture?
The photo shows people—mainly displaced/marginalized rural workers—picking through trash
at the Smoky Mountain in Payatas landfill in the Manila. They are looking mainly for scraps of
plastics and metals that they can sell.
What valuable environmental service does such scavenging provide?
Do you think this is the result of urbanization and environmental conversion?

Answer:
In my opinion, scavenging provides a crucial environmental service in that the informal
recycling sector contributes almost 100 percent of all recycling in the country. Because they are
in charge of sorting and segregating rubbish from waste containers, transfer sites, and landfills. I
believe that urbanization and environmental conversion are the causes of increasing population
and demand for food, water, and other commodities. The higher the inflation rate, the more
likely it is that individuals will lose their employment and resort to scavenging for a living.