Visualizing Environmental Science

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Wiley Visualizing offers students ample practice material for assessing their understanding of each study objective.

Students know exactly what they are getting out of each study session through immediate

feedback and coaching.

The Summary revisits each learning objective,

with relevant accompanying images taken

from the chapter; these visual clues reinforce

important elements.

Critical and Creative Thinking Questions challenge

students to think more broadly about chapter concepts. The

level of these questions ranges from simple to advanced; they

encourage students to think critically and develop an analytical

understanding of the ideas discussed in the chapter.

Sustainable Citizen questions give students a chance to think

about issues that are relevant to their everyday lives, so they can

give a better sense of how they can personally relate to and be

involved in the science they have learned in the chapter.

What is happening in this picture? presents an
uncaptioned photograph that is relevant to a chapter topic
and illustrates a situation students are not likely to have
encountered previously. The photograph is paired with
questions that ask the students to describe and explain
what they can observe in the photo based on what they
have learned.

Assessment

the same size because the birth rate equals the death rate, toward the end of the 21st century.

2. Thomas Malthusthe human population increases faster than its food supply, was a British economist who said that
   resulting in famine, disease, and war. Malthus’s ideas appear to be erroneous because the human population has grown
   from about 1 billion in his time to 7 billion today, and food production has generally kept pace with population. But
   Malthus may ultimately be proved correct because we don’t know whether our increase in food production is sustainable.


3. Estimates of Earth’s carrying capacity for humans vary widely depending on what assumptions are made about standard
   of living, resource consumption, technological innovations, and waste generation. In addition to natural environmental
   constraints, human choices and values determine Earth’s carrying capacity for humans.

(^3) 1. DemographicsDemographics of Countries 170 is the applied branch of sociology that
deals with population statistics. As a country becomes industrialized, it goes through a demographic transition
as it moves from relatively high birth and death rates to relatively low birth and death rates.

2. The under age 1 per 1000 live births. The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants total fertility rate (TFR)
   is the average number of children born to each woman. Replacement-level fertility is the number of children a
   couple must produce to “replace” themselves. is the number and proportion of people at each age in a Age structure
   population. A country can have replacement-level fertility and

Summary

(^1) 1. Population ecologyPopulation Ecology 160 is the branch of biology that deals with
the number of individuals of a particular species found in an area and how and why those numbers change over time.

2. The of a population’s size, expressed in percentage per year. On growth rate (r) is the rate of change (increase or decrease)
   a global scale, growth rate is due to the the death rate (d): r = b – d. Emigration (birth rate (e), the number of b) and
   individuals leaving an area, and of individuals entering an area, also affect a local population’s immigration (i), the number


3. Biotic potentialgrowth rate. is the maximum rate a population could
   increase under ideal conditions. growth is the accelerating population growth that occurs Exponential population
   when optimal conditions allow a constant reproductive rate for limited periods. Eventually, the growth rate
   decreases to around zero or becomes negative because of environmental resistance, unfavorable environmental
   conditions that prevent organisms from reproducing indefinitely at their biotic potential. The carrying capacity
   (support sustainably (long term) if there are no changes in K) is the largest population a particular environment can
   that environment.
   2 Human Population Patterns 165

(^800060004000) Time (years) (^2000) BCE (^0) CE 2000
Human population (billions) 12
34
56
(^7) 2011: 7 billion
Black Death

1. It took thousands of years for the human population to reach 1 billion (around 1800). Since then, the population has
   grown exponentially, reaching 7 billion in late 2011. Although our numbers continue to increase, the growth rate (r) has
   declined slightly over the past several years. The population should reach zero population growth, in which it remains

THE PLANNER

Alberto Ceoloni/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

Urban

Rural RuralUrban Urban

Rural

Ethiopia Turkey France

Based on data from Population Reference Bureau.

9. Explain the rationale behind this statement: It is better for highly developed countries to spend millions of dollars on
   family planning in developing countries now than to have to spend billions of dollars on relief efforts later.


10. Which factor do you think would have a larger effect on total fertility rate: the increased education of men or of women?


11. Explain your answer.What are two serious problems associated with the
    rapid growth of large urban areas? Explain why they are serious.


12. In cities utilizing compact development, motor vehicle use is reduced. What are some alternatives to motor vehicles?


13. Should the rapid increase in world population be of concern to the average citizen in the United States?
    Why or why not?


14. Urbanization varies from one country to another (see figure). Local and national government agencies in the
    three countries represented below strive to provide services to their populations. How might each of their
    efforts differ, and why? How do you think the United States compares to these countries? What do you
    believe to be the biggest problem faced by the United States, as related to population growth or urbanization,
    and how would you propose to address it?


15. How does the study of population ecology help us understand why some populations grow, some remain
    stable, and others decline?


16. The growth rates of various populations are usually expressed in percentages. Why are percentages
    advantageous in comparing growth rates?


17. The human population has grown as we have increased our global carrying capacity. In your opinion, can the global
    carrying capacity continue to increase? Explain your answer.


18. Why has human population growth, which increased exponentially for centuries, started to decline in the past
    few decades?


19. Malthus originally suggested that the population of England would collapse because it could not continue to increase its
    production of food. Why did this not happen?


20. What is carrying capacity? Do you think carrying capacity applies to people as well as to other organisms? Why or why
    not?


21. What can the governments of developing countries do to help their countries experience the demographic transition?


22. If you were to draw an age structure diagram for Poland, with a total fertility rate of 1.3, which of the following overall
    shapes would the diagram have? Explain why a country like Poland faces a population decline even if its fertility rate
    were to start increasing today.

Critical and Creative Thinking Questions

Age (A)

Postreproductive(45 and older)

Reproductive(15–44 yrs)

Prereproductive(0–14 yrs)

45

15

0

(B) (C)

THE PLANNER

Sustainable Citizen Question

© Frances Roberts/Alamy

What is happening in this picture?

Pedestrians stroll along lower Manhattan’s High Line park, constructed along an abandoned elevated rail line. What advantages does such a space

provide urban residents?

What problems are associated with abandoned spaces in cities?

How might a space like the High Line benefit the natural environment?