ENV 1101 Lecture : Class 9 - Population Dynamics.docx
Document Summary
The biotic potential for the human species exceeds environmental resistance (forage availability, predation, parasitism, etc. ) Thomas malthus (1798) argued that human populations tend to increase exponentially when food production is plentiful. Human populations inevitably outstrip food supply and eventually collapse. Assumed that human populations are stabilized by positive checks , which raise death rate, and preventative checks which lower birth rates. Assumed humans do not voluntarily reduce birth rates. Karl marx (1818-83) argued that human social behaviour can be understood in the context of the capitalist economy, which creates social classes that necessarily compete with one another for resources. Population growth is a symptom of poverty and exploitation. If you want to control population growth, you must first remove the root causes. Malthusian and marxian influences on today"s population science. Neo-malthusians: believe we are approaching, or have already surpassed, the earth s carrying capacity: we should make over-population issues our first priority.