Human landscapes:
There are several theories of the development of human kind. Two of the most popular theories are that God created everything, and the people evolved into what they are today, in the theory of evolution. However humans were created, we are able to interact with many things in our environment. According to Professor Frolich, in a community, relationships among species can be beneficial, damaging, or neutral.
There are five different types of relationships including symbiotic, parasitic, commensal, mutualism, and predation. Symbiotic simply means that both organisms benefit from interaction (Frolich). Another type of relationship is parasitic, which one species that is the parasite benefits, and the other species known as the host is harmed (Frolich). An addition type of relationship is commensal, which one species directly benefits, but instead of the other being harmed, the species is neutral and isn’t harmed or benefited (Frolich). The fourth type of relationship, known as mutualism, is where both species benefit, similar to symbiosis, but it may appear that one species has the advantage (Frolich). Though this is true, over a long-term period, both species actually benefit (Frolich). Lastly, predation (sometimes considered parasitic), where the predator is the parasite, but can also be seen as mutualistic (Frolich).
Deep time evolutionary history:
According to Professor Frolich, in order to understand evolution, we need to have an appreciation for deep time – time stretching beyond what is easy to intuitively grasp. Deep time is the concept of geologic time which was first recognized in the 1700’s in the western world by Scottish geologist James Hutton (Mader). Science in succeeding centuries has established the age of the Earth as between four and five billion years, with an exceedingly long history of change and development (Unknown).
There has been solid evidence that living humans form one single species known as homo sapiens (Frolich). Homo sapiens have the ability to interbreed, they have a little anatomical difference among populations, and little biochemical difference among populations (Frolich). They also have DNA and protein analysis that show recent single common ancestors within 1 million years.
There are several theories of the development of human kind. Two of the most popular theories are that God created everything, and the people evolved into what they are today, in the theory of evolution. However humans were created, we are able to interact with many things in our environment. According to Professor Frolich, in a community, relationships among species can be beneficial, damaging, or neutral.
There are five different types of relationships including symbiotic, parasitic, commensal, mutualism, and predation. Symbiotic simply means that both organisms benefit from interaction (Frolich). Another type of relationship is parasitic, which one species that is the parasite benefits, and the other species known as the host is harmed (Frolich). An addition type of relationship is commensal, which one species directly benefits, but instead of the other being harmed, the species is neutral and isn’t harmed or benefited (Frolich). The fourth type of relationship, known as mutualism, is where both species benefit, similar to symbiosis, but it may appear that one species has the advantage (Frolich). Though this is true, over a long-term period, both species actually benefit (Frolich). Lastly, predation (sometimes considered parasitic), where the predator is the parasite, but can also be seen as mutualistic (Frolich).
Deep time evolutionary history:
According to Professor Frolich, in order to understand evolution, we need to have an appreciation for deep time – time stretching beyond what is easy to intuitively grasp. Deep time is the concept of geologic time which was first recognized in the 1700’s in the western world by Scottish geologist James Hutton (Mader). Science in succeeding centuries has established the age of the Earth as between four and five billion years, with an exceedingly long history of change and development (Unknown).
There has been solid evidence that living humans form one single species known as homo sapiens (Frolich). Homo sapiens have the ability to interbreed, they have a little anatomical difference among populations, and little biochemical difference among populations (Frolich). They also have DNA and protein analysis that show recent single common ancestors within 1 million years.
http://www.scienceclarified.com/images/uesc_06_img0297.jpg
Natural selection:
Natural selection is the process by which favorable traits that are inherited, become more common in successive generations of a population of reproducing organisms (Mader). This also shows that unfavorable traits that are inherited become less common (Mader). Natural selection is basically the “phenotype”, or the characteristic that can be seen (Mader). In natural selection, people with the “phenotype” characteristic are said to be more likely to survive and reproduce than those with less favorable phenotypes. If these phenotypes have a genetic basis, then the genotype associated with the favorable phenotype will increase in frequency in the next generation (Mader).
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/NR/rdonlyres/709C2B0A-DCBF-4A58-BD6A-C97BFF472375/0/conversion.gif
Over a long period of time, this process can result in adaptations that specialize organisms for particular ecological niches, which may eventually result in the emergence of new species (Mader). The term natural selection was introduced by Charles Darwin in 1859 (Unknown). Surprisingly, the concept of natural selection was originally developed in the absence of a valid theory of inheritance, and Darwin’s writing had nothing to do with modern genetics (Unknown).
Human Ecology:
Human ecology is basically that academic discipline that deals with the relationship between humans and their natural, social and created environments (Unknown). Human ecology investigates how humans and human societies interact with nature and with their environment (Unknown). When it comes to human ecology and the environment, species that live in communities are what humans interact with everyday (Unknown). Biologically, the human ecosystem has the same components known as biophysical resources (Frolich).
http://www.mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/hsa/biology/images/ecosystem.gif
The change in ecosystems occurs because of natural processes (Unknown 2). The changes can take years of centuries, working so slowly that they are barely noticed (Unknown 2). They have a systematic pattern generated by community assembly, which follows an orderly progression known as ecological succession, another emergent property of ecosystems (Unknown 2). These ecosystems are able to change themselves, and people also change ecosystems. Because humans impact the ecosystem, and the ecosystem impacts humans, they depend on each other for survival.
Domestication:
Domestication refers to the process of taming a population of animals, plants or other species as a whole (Mader). Humans have brought these different populations under their care for many different reasons (Mader). Some of the reasons include to produce food, or valuable commodities such as wool, cotton, or silk (Mader). Other reasons are to use them for various types of work, transportation, or to enjoy as pets or ornamental plants (Mader).
http://www.dogfacts.org/dog-pictures.jpg
Plants are mainly domesticated for aesthetic enjoyment in and around the home are usually called house plants (Mader). Some plants are also domesticated for large-scale food production, generally known as crops (Mader). Also, domesticated animals are used for home companionship, known as pets, while animals domesticated for food or work are called livestock or farm animals (Mader).
http://files.turbosquid.com/Preview/Content_on_3_13_2003_05_10_27/Plant.jpg0E3A553F-8168-49C3-B5FE1C6CF6270646.jpgLarge.jpg
Although the thought of domestication is pretty clear, there is a debate within the scientific community over how the process of domestication works (Mader). Some researchers give credit to natural selection, where mutations outside of human control make some members of a species more compatible to human cultivation or companionship (Mader). Other researchers have shown that carefully controlled selective breeding is responsible for many of the collective changes associated with domestication (Mader).
Citations:
Frolich, Larry. “Human Landscape powerpoint” pg.1-5
Mader, Sylvia. “Human Biology 10th edition”. 2008
Unknown. “Human ecology” http://www.ecotippingpoints.com/
Unknown 2 “Ecosystems” http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/ecosystems.html&edu=elem
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