BIOL1120

POPULATION GROWTH
20 Points
Name: Yi Yuen - Janelle Ting
Thomas Malthus on Population by Matt Rosenberg:
In 1798, a 32 year-old British economist anonymously published a lengthy pamphlet criticizing
the views of the Utopians who believed that life could and would definitely improve for humans
on earth. The hastily written text, An Essay on the Principle of Population as it Affects the Future
Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Condorcet, and
Other Writers, was published by Thomas Robert Malthus.
Thomas Malthus argued that because of the natural human urge to reproduce human
population increases geometrically (1, 2, 4, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, etc.). However, food supply, at
most, can only increase arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc.). Therefore, since food is an
essential component to human life, population growth in any area or on the planet, if unchecked,
would lead to starvation. However, Malthus also argued that there are preventative checks and
positive checks on population that slow its growth and keep the population from rising
exponentially for too long, but still, poverty is inescapable and will continue.
Thomas Malthus' example of population growth doubling was based on the preceding 25 years
of the brand-new United States of America. Malthus felt that a young country with fertile soil like
the U.S. would have one of the highest birth rates around. He liberally estimated an arithmetic
increase in agricultural production of one acre at a time, acknowledging that he was
overestimating but he gave agricultural development the benefit of the doubt.
According to Thomas Malthus, preventative checks are those that affect the birth rate and
include marrying at a later age (moral restraint), abstaining from procreation, birth control, and
homosexuality. Positive checks are those, according to Thomas Malthus, that increases the
death rate. These include disease, war, disaster, and finally, when other checks don't reduce
population, famine.
Bell Peppers are Taking Over the World!
Geometric/Exponential Growth - Growth in which some quantity (e.g. population size), increases by a
fixed percentage of the whole in a given time - will yield a J-shaped curve.
No population can grow exponentially indefinitely. In the real world, a rapidly growing population
reaches some size limit imposed by a shortage of one or more limiting factors (environmental resistance
factors = food, shelter, predators etc.). These factors always limit population growth in nature. Any
population growing exponentially starts out slowly and then goes through a rapid, unrestricted
exponential growth phase. If plotted, this growth will yield a J-shaped growth curve. However, because
of environmental resistance factors, growth tends to level off once the carrying capacity (K) of the area is
reached. This usually results in an S-shaped curve.Carrying capacity is the maximum population size of a
species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and other necessities
available in the environment.

Applying these concepts to humans.....humans are not exempt from these environmental resistance
factors. To date, we have increased food production and used large amounts of energy and matter
resources to provide for the growing population. However, there is growing concern about how long we
will be able to keep providing for the growing population on a planet with a finite size and
resourcesagain, termed the carrying capacity.
This activity is designed to assist you in understanding exponential population growth and how quickly an
uncontrolled population can surpass the carrying capacity of a given area (e.g. earth)
What you will need: A bell pepper(or other item with many seeds) and a spreadsheet program (e.g.
Excel).
1. Count the number of seeds in a bell pepper (or other vegetable with seeds that can be easily counted).
2. Assume that each of these seeds is planted and that each plant produces a single pepper plant with the
same number of seeds. That is, no death or mortality occurs.
3. Calculate how many pepperplants will be produced each year for five years and graph your results.
The number the first year should reflect the number of seeds the pepper you started with produced.
4. Make a graph showing the population levels of pepper plants over a five year period if all peppers
seeds produced grew into mature pepper plants. The years should be on the x-axis and number of plants
on the y-axis.
Answer the following questions:
1. How many seeds were in your initial pepper? This represents the first generation.
Small Asian Chilli - 37
2. How many plants were alive in your pepper population after only 5 generations?

Number of Seeds from One Asian Chilli Within x Years

80000000
70000000
60000000

Number of Seeds
from One Asian Chilli
Within 5 Years

50000000
40000000
30000000
20000000
10000000
0
1

3. Describe your graph.

In just 5 years, the number increased from a mere 37 to a whopping 69,343,957. The numbers in the first
4 years were pretty steady, then it gets out of control in the 5th year! The line goes almost flat in the first 4
years and shoots up at almost a 90 degree angle at the 5th.
4. Make a list of four or five environmental factors that might limit natural or wild populations
(not necessarily pepper plant or human populations).

Viable offspring
Genetics
Defects
Can't find a mate; solitary
Harsh environmental conditions
Pollution
Infertility
Unsuitable weather
Parasites and disease

5. If a population were subjected to some of these environmental factors for a considerable length
of time, would you expect to see any changes in the population? Based on the information provided
above, explain your answer.
Most certainly yes! If any of the factors above apply, I believe there would be a significant effect on the
population. Thomas Malthus argued that population increases geometrically. However, food can only
increase arithmetically. By looking at the numbers it could have reached, there would have been a
population crash a long time ago (with the exception of impoverished economies) because our resources
can't keep up with our rate of consuming. We would neither have space to live comfortably, nor enough
food and other essentials to go around. The Earth might be even more polluted than it is right now, with
factories struggling to churn out more products to keep everyone happy, as well as the surplus of
biological waste. Negative checks on population work with positive checks on population to slow its
growth - to keep it below its carrying capacity.