There are two patterns of population growth. The Figure LEFT shows a logistic growth of a sheep population; by contrast, the Figure RIGHT shows a sharply increasing and decreasing growth. Please work in group of 2 or 3 and use the comment function to answer:
Question 1: Why do you think the population in the Right figure grew fast and crashed, unlike the sheep in the Left figure?
Question 2: Humanity's ecological footprint is about 25% larger than the earth's ecological capacity and is growing rapidly. If this keep up, is the curve for future human population growth more like to resemble Figure Left or Figure Right? Explain.
Mollie Roberts and Matt Walter
ReplyDelete1)The reindeer did not stay with the carrying capacity. They ate too much too faster. Faster than the earth could replenish. Once they ran out of food the population crashed.
2) It will resemble figure right because humans are consuming more than can physically be replaced naturally. I think human population will grow till there is nothing left for us then we will crash.
Jordyn Coates, Samantha Donathan, Meghan McGee
ReplyDelete1. The population exceeded the habitat's carrying capacity.
2. Figure Right because there will not be enough resources because our population will exceed the earth's capacity.
janet Lewis and Matthew Fultz
ReplyDelete1.The reindeer population crashed because they are wild animals and are subjected to the natural resources available to them. The sheep are domesticated animals and therefore their population is somewhat controlled by human intervention.
2.Human population growth in the future is more likey to look like the figure on the right.
Tonya Crum & Elizabeth Rhymer
ReplyDelete1. The population of sheep was already higher so they multiplied faster than reindeer. Also, the habitat of the sheep replenishes faster than that of the reindeer.
2. It is more likely to resemble the left because people will continue to reproduce and find alternative means of resources.
Amy Byington & Tyler Hensley
ReplyDelete1. The sheep population grew as the availlable resources grew. This enabled them to be stabilized. However, the reindeer population grew without the availability of resources growing and so that population crashed.
2. Humanity is represented more by the reindeer figure because humanity is outgrowing it's capacity just as the reindeer did.
Tia Nave, Brandi Poore, Tiffany Scott
ReplyDelete1. The figure on the right peaked and were unable to recover their resources after overshooting thier carrying capacity causing their population to crash.
2. Figure on the right because if we continue to grow we will be using the resources and run out. The population will increase and the resources will decrease which results in a population crash and we will exceed the Earth's resources.
Michelle Policastro and Alex Honkonen
ReplyDelete1.The reindeer population way over exceeded the carrying capacity of habitat were they were. That habitat could not sustain such large numbers of reindeer.
2. Right if humans keep at this rate they will largely exceed the ecological carrying capacity and have massive failure like the reindeer.
Denise Davis and Whitney Cogburn
ReplyDelete1) The figure to the left is domestic so people could care for it and farms that help and grow sheep. While the figure to the right no one cares for and they became so overpopulated that they died off because there was no food left.
2)Eventually if the foot print gets larger we will look like the picture on the right. If we can't take care of the earth and the fact that we are growing rapidly we would grow and then crash just like the picture on the right.
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ReplyDeleteDanielle Honeycutt, Natasha Hillman, and Kari Jensen
ReplyDeleteWe feel that the figure on the right grew fast because there was a large amount of reindeer on a small island. It crashed for a similar reason. Being as it may that they were located on a small island, the resources are also going to be small and very limited so after reproducing to a large number and overshooting the carrying capacity by close to 2000 reindeer, there would be absolutely no way that they could survive. The population would have to crash in order for them to be able to survive and start over. The figure on the left stayed constant within the carrying capacity which made it possible for the sheep to maintain their population and health.
If the population of human's continue to increase obviously our resources are going to run out. We don't think it'll be the end of the earth, but we will not be able to use our resources as frivilanty as we do now. We need to realize the footprint we are leaving now so generations to come will not suffer for our decisions now.
Ashley Perkins and Eva Swatzell
ReplyDelete1. The reindeer were introduced into the habitat so we assume that they were domesticated. Because of that domestication, they did not know how to hunt for food in the wild, unlike the sheep who grew up on the island. The sheep also reproduced more slowly and it took them longer to meet their carrying capacity. The reindeer reproduced more quickly than they could care for and feed themselves.
2. The curve for future human population growth would be more likely to resemble Figure Right because we will have exceeded our carrying capacity greatly, like the reindeer did. After reproducing at a fast rate, we will also crash like the reindeer population did.
1) If breeding relies on resources, and the sheep reproduce faster, then when the population of sheep level out, they reproduce at a rate that the resources can sustain. The reindeer on the other hand, take longer to reproduce, so when they run out of resources, it takes them longer to recover.
ReplyDelete2) The human population growth is more likely to resemble the right because of the rate of consumption of resources. At some, point we will not be able to recover. This has been the trend of past dominant species throughout history... Cockroaches however, will still be around.
Jeremy Singer, Emily Hevrdeys, and Imani Aziz