Biodiversity conservation is an extraordinary challenge that must be addressed through a better understanding of biodiversity itself, changes in human behavior and beliefs, and various conservation strategies. The number of species on the planet, or in any geographical area, is the result of a balance of two evolutionary processes: speciation and extinction. When speciation rates …
The main threat to the planet’s biodiversity, and therefore a threat to human well-being, is the combination of population growth and the resources utilized by that population. Human populations require resources to survive and thrive, and many of these resources are being extracted from the environment in an unsustainable way. The top three immediate threats …
All living things need energy in one form or another. At the cellular level, energy is consumed in most metabolic pathways (usually in the form of ATP), particularly those responsible for building large molecules from smaller aggregates. Living organisms would not be able to get together complex organic compound molecules (proteins, lipids, nucleic and carbohydrate) …
Geothermal energy benefits from the fact that the deeper you go into the earth’s crust, the warmer things get. About 50 to 87 Fahrenheit degrees of temperature difference for each mile. In geothermal pools up to two miles below the ground surface, is where hot water or steam is then piped to the surface to …
Human activities in coastline are known to have a number of negative impacts, both direct and indirect, on the natural environment, including coral reef ecosystems. Coral reef health is also affected by natural factors such as disease and tropical storms. However, the ability of coral ecosystems to cope with and recover from these natural factors …
Population ecologists are using various methods to model population dynamics. An accurate model should be able to describe changes occurring in a population and predict future changes. Exponential And Logistic Population Growth The two simple models of population growth use deterministic equations (equations that do not the number of random events) to describe the rate …
R is not only a program for data analysis. It has unique features that make it very powerful, probably the most important being the notion of vectors. These vectors make it possible to perform sometimes complex operations on a set of values in a single command. Performing multiple calculations with vectors R is a vector …
So far biologists have found about1.5 a million species living on this planet. While this total may seem impressive, the available evidence suggests that this estimate grossly underestimates the true extent of the Earth’s biodiversity. In fact, even today, after all the explorations over the past few years, several thousand new species are described every …
Those who have climbed the highest mountains in Africa have probably noticed how the flora and fauna present gradually change as one progresses from high forest in the lowlands to humid, medium-altitude forest with a low canopy, then to grasslands, grassy alps, and finally to cold, windy areas and rocky mountain peaks. We see these …
We can think of a population as a set of individuals of the same species living together at the same time and place. This statement implies coexistence and possible interaction or intercommunication between all members of the population, and that the population is spatially well defined. Population Dynamics; How fast the population is growing, how …
