Population and Human Ecology

EARTH AS A SYSTEM
System- any ordered, interrelated set of objects, things, components, parts and their attributes,
as distinct from their surrounding environment.

a. Earth’s Energy Equilibrium: Open System

- A natural system that is not self-contained: inputs of energy and matter flow into the
system and outputs flow from the system.
*Laws of Thermodynamics Concept
1. First Law of Thermodynamics
The conservation of energy, energy can neither be created or destroyed
2. Second Law of Thermodynamics
It deals with the amount of useful energy, every time we have an interaction when
we’re converting energy we’re losing some of that useful energy.
b. Earth’s Physical Matter: Closed System
- A system that is shut off from the surrounding environment so that it is self-contained.

System Analysis- understanding the balance of system

Steady State- an unchanging condition, system or physical process that remains the same even
after transformation or change.

Feedback Loop- the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is
used as input for future operations.

a. Negative Feedback Loop- losing more of that heat in space

b. Positive Feedback Loop- absorbing more heat and increasing the temperature.

Earth’s Four Spheres

A. Biosphere
- Regions in which life can exist
Made up of 3 parts
1. Atmosphere
2. Hydrosphere
3. Lithosphere
B. Atmosphere
- contains all of the gases on our planet
- Protects us from UV rays
 - Balances the global temperature on the Earth
- Made up of various gases (Nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour, Carbon dioxide, Ozone,
etc...)

Layers of Atmosphere

1. Troposphere : contains 80% of all air

2. Stratosphere: absorbs UV rays
3. Mesosphere: Protects Earth from meteorites
4. Thermosphere: Most meteorites burn up here.
C. Hydrosphere
1. Fresh Water
- Lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams are freshwater habitats also swamps, bogs, and
marshes.
2. Salt Water
- The water of the seas and oceans is salty because of the vast quantity of mineral salts
dissolved in it.
D. Lithosphere
- Comprises the Earth’s crust and part of the upper mantle.
* A rock is a heterogeneous blend of various grains (each grain is a mineral)
* A mineral is a pure, natural and inorganic substance

Earth’s Past Atmosphere

1. Primordial Atmosphere

- Derived from the original solar nebula.

2. Evolutionary Atmosphere

3. Living Atmosphere

4. Modern Atmosphere

ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION, TEMPERATURE & FUNCTION

Chemical Composition

a) HETEROSPHERE:

The outer atmosphere beginning from about 50 miles from the earth’s surface and extending to
space Gases are not evenly mixed but assorted by gravity according to their atomic weight and
reaction of the gases with solar radiation. Less than 0.001% of the mass of the earth’s
atmosphere is in the heterosphere.

b) HOMOSPHERE:

Extends from earth’s surface to about 50 miles (80 kms). Density of air changes with altitude
but the proportion of gases is nearly uniform. Exceptions are: Ozone O3, Water vapor,
Pollutants & some trace chemicals.

Atmospheric Temperature

a) Thermosphere: Between 50–300miles (80 – 480kms into outer space. Temperature rises to
22000F (12000C) and higher.

b) Mesosphere: From 30–50 miles (50–80kms) above the earth’s surface.

The Mesopause (outer layer of Mesosphere) is the coldest region in the atmosphere about –
1300F (-900C)

c) Stratosphere: 11–31 miles (18–50kms) from the Earth’s surface. Temperature increases with
altitude

d) Troposphere: the atmospheric layer that supports life. Home of the biosphere. Holds 90% of
total mass of atmosphere and all water vapor, clouds, weather and air pollution.

ATMOSPHERIC FUNCTION

a) Ionosphere: extends throughout the thermosphere into the mesosphere. I absorbs Cosmic
rays, gamma rays, X-rays and Ultraviolet radiation.

b) Ozonosphere: a layer of ozone gas (O3). Absorbs UV light and re-radiates it as long wave
infrared radiation.

Goal of Ecology
Five Levels of Organization of Matter

1. Species- Similar organisms that can successfully reproduce among themselves in their
natural environment.
Example: Species of frog; water frog, red-eyed tree frog
2. Population- made up of many of the same kind of species that live in the same area.
Example: Population of bats living in a cave
3. Community- made up of many groups of populations that interact in an area.
Example: A forest: populations of trees, populations of mushrooms, populations of birds
 4. Ecosystem- includes all the living organisms in an area and all the non-living things that
affect it.
Example: Forest Ecosystem includes grass, soil, wind, sunlight, animals
5. Biosphere- the part of the Earth that supports all organisms, made up of the Earth’s
entire ecosystem.
Example: Made up of water, land, living things and air

Evolution of Man
1858- Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace also known as Evolutionary Theory

Theory of Organic Evolution

- Explains the diversity of living organisms, their characteristics and their distribution as a
result of gradual and continuous change from previously existing forms.

Natural Selection
a. The universal occurrence of variation
 The offspring in any generation will be slightly different from one another in their
traits (color, size, shape, etc.), and many of these features will be heritable.
b. Over production (rapid multiplication)
 Every species, in the absence of environmental check, tends to increase in a
geometrical matter.
c. The struggle of existence
1. Intraspecific struggle between same species
 It occurs when the individuals of the same species that are faced with a
situation when resources for survival and reproduction are limited.
Example: Larger, dominant grizzly bears occupying the best fishing spots on a
river during the salmon spawning season.
2. Interspecific between different species
 Competitions between different species compete for the same resources in
an ecosystem
Example: between entomo-pathogenic nematodes for lepidopterans larva
3. Environment Struggles
 Earthquake, tidal waves, the bursting of volcanoes are all causes for killing
large population
4. Survival of the fittest
 Majorities die out due to the fact those few survival have necessary
advantageous variations.
 d. Inheritance of useful variations
 The organisms after getting fitted to the surroundings transmit their useful
variations to the next generation, while non-useful variations are eliminated.

Primates Evolution
Primate- a mammal that has relatively long fingers and toes with nails instead of claws, arms
that can rotate around shoulder joints, a strong clavicle, binocular vision, and a well-developed
cerebrum.

A. Lemurs and lorises are small, nocturnal primates with large eyes adapted to seeing in
the dark. Many have long snouts.
B. Tarsiers and Anthropoids
Anthropoids, or humanlike primates, include monkeys, great apes, and humans.
C. New World Monkeys
 Have a long, prehensile tail that can coil tightly enough around a branch to
serve as a “fifth hand.”
 Have long, flexible arms that enable them to swing from branches.
D. Old World Monkeys and Great Apes
 Spend time in trees but lack prehensile tails.
 Great apes, also called hominoids, include gibbons, orangutans, gorillas,
chimpanzees, and humans.
 Recent DNA analyses confirm that, among the great apes, chimpanzees are
humans’ closest relatives.

Hominine Evolution
  The hominoids in the lineage that led to humans are called hominines and include
modern humans and all other species more closely related to us than to chimpanzees.
 The evolution of bipedal, or two-footed, locomotion was very important, because it
freed both hands to use tools.
 The hominine hand evolved an opposable thumb that could touch the tips of the
fingers, enabling the grasping of objects and the use of tools.
 Hominines evolved much larger brains.

* The hominine fossil record includes seven genera—Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, Ardipithecus,

Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Kenyanthropus, and Homo—and at least 20 species.

All these species are relatives of modern humans, but not all of them are human
ancestors.

The Oldest Hominine

 In 2002, paleontologists in Africa discovered a fossil skull roughly 7 million years old.
This fossil, called Sahelanthropus, is a million years older than any known hominine.

Australopithecus

 Hominines of the genus Australopithecus lived from about 4 million to about 1.5 million
years ago. Australopithecus afarensis fossils are shown.
 These hominines were bipedal apes, but their skeletons suggest that they probably
spent some time in trees.
 The structure of their teeth suggests a diet rich in fruit.
 Australopithecus afarensis fossils indicate the species had small brains. Excavations
have found fossilized humanlike footprints that were probably made by members of A.
afarensis about 3.6 million years ago. Such finds show that homines walked bipedally
before large brains evolved. Males were larger than females.
*Lucy- The best-known A. afarensis specimen is a partial skeleton of an adult female
discovered in 1974, nicknamed “Lucy.” Lucy stood about 1 meter tall and lived about 3.2
million years ago.
* The Dikika Baby
- In 2006, an Ethiopian researcher announced the discovery of some 3.3 million-year-old
fossils of a very young A. afarensis female, nicknamed “the Dikika Baby.”
- Leg bones confirmed that the Dikika Baby walked bipedally, while her arm and
shoulder bones suggest that she would have been a better climber than modern
humans.

The Genus Homo

  The fossils of this new group of hominine species resemble modern human bones, and
so they are classified in the genus Homo.
 One set of fossils was found with tools made of stone and bone, so it was named Homo
habilis, which means “handy man” in Latin.

The First Homo sapiens

 The multiregional model suggests that, in several parts of the world, modern humans
evolved independently from widely separated populations of H. erectus.
 The “out-of-Africa” model proposes that modern humans evolved in Africa about
200,000 years ago, migrated through the Middle East, and replaced the descendants of
earlier hominine species.

Modern Humans

 The story of modern humans over the past 200,000 years involves two main species:
Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
a. Homo neanderthalensis
 Neanderthals flourished in Europe and western Asia beginning about 200,000
years ago.
 Evidence suggests that they made stone tools, lived in complex social groups,
had controlled use of fire, were excellent hunters, and performed simple burial
rituals.
 Neanderthals survived in parts of Europe until about 28,000–24,000 years ago
b. Modern Homo sapiens
 Anatomically modern Homo sapiens arrived in the Middle East from Africa
about 100,000 years ago.
 By about 50,000 years ago, H. sapiens populations, including some now
known as Cro-Magnons, were using new technology to make more
sophisticated stone blades and were making tools from bones and antlers.
 They produced spectacular cave paintings and buried their dead with
elaborate rituals
Both Neanderthals and H. sapiens moved into Europe, where they coexisted
for several thousand years.
 For the last 24,000 years, however, Homo sapiens has have been Earth’s only
hominine.

Early Evolution of Life

a. 2-3 Gyr: Little free oxygen
  Earlier than 2 Gyrs ago red beds occur. These form when iron is weathered
out of rock in the presence of oxygen.
b. Precambrian (0.5-3.5 Gyr): Stromatolites, colonies of cyanobacteria
c. Cambrian Period (505-570 Myr)
 Rocks 1/2 billion years old differ from early outcrops because they contain
multitudes of fossils of various forms of vertebrate marine life like the
trilobite
d. Ordovician Period (438-505 myr)
 Creatures resembling today’s hagfish emerge in the fossils. Rocks formed
from fossils of these worm-like creatures can be seen in the Bright Angel
formation in the Grand Canyon.
e. Silurian Period (425 myr)
 The emergence of land-based life – both plants and animals. Fossils of
scorpions and millipedes are common in these rocks
f. Devonian Period (360-408 Myr)
 Early sharks and hinge-jawed fish can be found in these rocks.
g. Carboniferous period (286-360 Myr)
 Much of today’s coal deposits in North America, Europe and China were
formed from the decomposition of flora from this period
h. Permian Period (245-286 Myr)
 Rocks deposited in the Permian period indicate the first presence of reptiles.
 These include those that are credited as being the progenitors of mammals.
i. Mesozoic Era
 Rocks deposited 245-66 million yrs ago contain dinosaur bones as well as the
first mammal bones. During this time the giant continent Pangaea is breaking up
and the continents are beginning to form.
j. Cenozoic Era
 Most skeletons of the earliest hominids (6-3 million years old) come from Africa.
 This led to the idea that hominids evolved in Africa and progressed with time to
Europe.
 The oldest hominid bones from Europe are 800,000 yrs old.

* Early Hominids (3-6 million yrs ago)

Upright gate: after 4 million years ago

Small stature: 4 feet and a bit, 70-110 lbs

Small cranial capacity: ~400-500 cc

Tools: none discovered

Finds: Lucy

* Homo Erectus (2 – 0.2 million yrs ago)

Taller stature: 5-6 feet and a bit, 120-150 lbs

Larger cranial capacity: ~ 850-1000 cc

Tools: tear drop hand axes

Finds: Java man, Peking man

* Neanderthal (190-27 thousand yrs ago)

Stocky stature: 5 – 5.5 feet

Large size to the muscle attachments

Large cranial capacity: ~ 1500 cc (exceeds human)

DNA analysis: distinct from humans. 600,000 yrs ago - a common ancestor with humans.

Finds: La Chapelle-aux-Saints

* Homo Floresiensis (Ebu Gogo)

1 meter high

Lived in Flores until 12,000 yrs ago

Upright posture

6 individuals found

380 cc cranial size (like a chimp)

* Homo Sapiens (200 thousand yrs ago to present)

Stature: ~5.4 f, 5.9 m feet

Large cranial capacity: ~ 1300 cc

Average weight: 163 f, 190 m

Population Structure and Projection

  The current population of the Philippines is 108,626,742 as of Tuesday, November 5,
2019 based on Worldmeters elaboration of the latest United Nations Data.
 The Philippines 2019 population is estimated at 108,116,615 people at mid year
according to UN Data.
 The Philippine population is equivalent to 1.4% of the total world population.
 The Philippines ranks number 13 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by
population.
 The population density in the Philippines is 363 per km² (939 people per mi²)
 The total land area is 298,170 km² (115,124 sq.miles)
 47.1% of the population is urban (50,971,408 people in 2019)
 The median age in the Philippines is 24.4 years.

People versus Earth

 In the Philippines, 21.6% of the population lives below the national poverty line in 2015.
 The World Bank had estimated poverty incidence in the Philippines at 24.5 percent for
2016, 23.1 percent for 2017 and 21.9 percent for 2018.

Factors Contributing to Environmental Impact

1. Overpopulation
Environmental Effects of Overpopulation
1. Farming impacts
2. Deforestation
3. Eutrophication
4. Loss of Fresh water
5. Global Warming
2. Population density and distribution
3. Pollution
4. War
5. Technology
6. Politics
7. Natural Calamities

a. Earthquakes f. Volcanic Eruptions

b. Hurricanes g. Blizzards
c. Lightning h. Flooding
d. Fire i. Tornadoes
e. Tsunamis j. Drought