In this assignment, you will use simulations to analyze how climate, resources, and habitat size affect
carrying capacity. You will then look at another simulation to analyze the effects of certain factors that
affect biodiversity and populations. Finally, you will write and revise a conclusion on how human activity
affects biodiversity.
Background Information
Population growth is the change in size of a group of organisms of the same species over time. It is
affected by four factors: birth rate, death rate, immigration, and emigration.
Carrying capacity is the maximum total population that an area can support. Carrying capacity limits
population growth and is affected by competition for food, water, shelter, or mates, and threat of
predators, disease, and parasites. Carrying capacity may be affected by one or a combination of these
factors.
Biodiversity is the total variety of organisms that live in the biosphere. Biodiversity is affected by the loss
of habitat, introduction of invasive species, pollution, and/or human activities.

Larger habitats support populations with higher carrying capacities. Higher quality habitats support populations with higher carrying capacities. There is no difference in population growth rate between large and small habitats. Some major threats to biodiversity are: Habitat destruction/Deforestation, Introduced and invasive species, Genetic pollution, Over exploitation, Hybridization, Climate change, Diseases, Human overpopulation. If abiotic or biotic factors change, the carrying capacity changes as well. Natural disasters can destroy resources in an ecosystem. If resources are destroyed, the ecosystem will not be able to support a large population. This causes the carrying capacity to decrease.

Carrying capacity could be reduced if each individual within the species consumed less from the environment. Think about humans: if every human needs a four car garage and a large house, the planet can sustain fewer humans than if each human lived in a studio apartment and traveled using a bicycle. It would take 1.75 Earths to sustain our current population. If current trends continue, we will reach 3 Earths by the year 2050. It is beyond dispute that the modern industrial world has been able to temporarily expand Earth's carrying capacity for our species. As Nordhaus points out, population has grown dramatically (from less than a billion in 1800 to 7.6 billion today), and so has per capita consumption. Historically, habitat and land use change have had the biggest impact on biodiversity in all ecosystems, but climate change and pollution are projected to increasingly affect all aspects of biodiversity. Sustainable agriculture practices support integrating biodiversity in various ways including in terms of diversity of crops, traditional agriculture techniques to control pests and increase productivity as well as ensuring that farmed land is made up of a diverse mix of grazing land, crop land, orchards, wetlands and more.

Explanation:

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