1.3 Population - Resource Relationships

Question 1

What are resources?

Answer 1

Any physical material of the environment that can be used to meet human needs

Question 2

Define carrying capacity

Answer 2

The largest population that the resources of a given environment can support

Question 3

Define bio-capacity (supply)

Answer 3

The amount of productive land (gHa) that is available to produce natural resources and absorb waste

Question 4

Define ecological footprint (demand)

Answer 4

A theoretical measure of the demand human activity puts on the biosphere. Measures in gHa. Measures the amount of biologically productive and water area to produce all the resources that a population consumes and to absorb waste these people generate, given prevailing technology and resource management practice

Question 5

What are the 6 components of ecological footprint?

Answer 5

• Built-up land
• Carbon footprint
• Grazing land
• Fishing grounds
• Crop land
• Forest

Question 6

Reasons why biocapacity of a nation would decrease

Answer 6

• An increase in the population
• Natural disaster
• War
• Cash crop farming/ Slash and burn farming (bad farming practices) -> soil degradation -> infertile -> inability to regenerate

Question 7

Reasons why ecological footprint of a nation would increase

Answer 7

• Migration + an increase in population
• Development of vehicles -> increase in carbon footprint
• Development in technology (increase in GDP per capita) -> increased extraction of resources -> depletion

Question 8

Natural causes of food shortages

Answer 8

• Soil exhaustion
• Drought
• Floods
• Natural disaster
• Extreme climate

Question 9

Economic and political factors that causes food shortages

Answer 9

• Low capital investment
• Rapidly rising population
• Conflict situation - civil wars
• Poor distribution/ transport difficulties

Question 10

Define overpopulation

Answer 10

When a country/region does not have enough resources to keep its people at a reasonable standard of living

Question 11

Define optimum population

Answer 11

The size of population that is sufficiently large to provide an adequate living condition

Question 12

Define underpopulation

Answer 12

When a country/region has more resources available than are being used by the people living there

Question 13

Malthus’ theory

Answer 13

While food production grows at an arithmetic rate, the population is increasing in the geometric progression => resources depletion as human population outgrow the carrying capactiy => catastrophe such as famine/war/diseases => increased mortality and decreased fertility => decrease in population

Question 14

Boserup’s (Neo-Malthusian) theory

Answer 14

The threat of starvation and the challenge of feeding more mouths motivates people to improve their farming methods and invent new technologies in order to produce more food. Boserup described this change as ‘agricultural intensification’

Question 15

How constraints (war, climatic hazards) link to population and resources?

Answer 15

• War can lead to resources such as water and food being deliberately destroyed to make life difficult for the opposing side.
• Tropical storms, flooding and drought can lead to the reduction in resources, as they are destroyed or hindered in their growth.
• Volcanic eruptions can devastate large areas covering farmland with lava and ash.

Question 16

The role of technology and innovation in resource development

Answer 16

–Exploitation of gas and oil with new technology for undersea extraction

–Developing new fertilizer mixes

–Renewable energy technology

–Recycling technology

Question 17

S-curve

Answer 17

• Population grows slowly at first
• Followed by a rapid growth due to a plentiful supplies of nutrients
• Later the population stabilises due limited amount of resources available
• The population stabilises at carrying capacity

Question 18

J-curve

Answer 18

• Population initially grows exponentially

- Suddenly collapses because overpopulation exceeds carrying capacity