Resource Specialization, Population Growth, and Agricultural Production in the American Southwest

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Adaptive System ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Specific Adaptation ◽  
Resource Specialization ◽  
Explanatory Mechanism

The prehistoric period of the northern American Southwest is characterized by increased population, increased agricultural production, and regional depopulation. Most current models of evolutionary change that attempt to explain these phenomena are defined at the scale of "culture" or of a specific adaptation, e.g., "Anasazi adaptive system." I suggest that for most purposes these are not productive constructs, and that their application makes useful explanations difficult, if not impossible to formulate. As a further liability, these models ignore the role of natural selection as an explanatory mechanism, preferring instead to seek explanation through the premature application of the concept of adaptation. The application of a selectionist perspective, as opposed to the more popular adaptationist model, leads to the conclusion that the operation of natural selection favoring productive specialization accounts for the characteristics noted above for the prehistoric American Southwest.

Population Aggregation in the Prehistoric American Southwest: A Selectionist Model

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 648-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Leonard ◽  
Heidi E. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
The North ◽  
Population Aggregation ◽  
Population Dispersion ◽  
Production Labor ◽  
North American Southwest

The settlement practices of the prehistoric Anasazi of the North American Southwest exhibited shifts from the occupation of dispersed settlements to aggregated villages in many locales both concurrently and at different times. Explaining the nature and timing of these shifts has long been a focus of interest to researchers working in the Southwest. We present a model that outlines the relations among population growth, population dispersion and aggregation, regional abandonments, the nature of specialized systems of production, labor organization, climatic change, and the role of natural selection in producing evolutionary explanations. We offer the hypothesis that aggregation is the product of changes in the organization of corporate labor related to the stabilization of specialized strategies of resource production in response to changes in environmental conditions.

scholarly journals SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND ENVIRONMENT: ROLE OF SUPREME COURT

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9SE) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Mukesh Dixit
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Change Environment

Humans have a deep connection to the environment. Ever since man came to this earth, he has kept the environment with him. The sun, moon, earth, mountains, forests, rivers, oceans, water etc. have been used by humans since the beginning of human development. Human beings have used natural wealth from the beginning to obtain wood, food, clothes, medicines etc. in their daily life and continue to the present. With social change, environment has been affected in industrial development and population growth. Due to industrialization, a person has become an active factor to change the environment according to his needs. Destruction of forests, air and aquatic pollution and increasing use of pesticides for agricultural production have led to extensive changes in the environment. Various types of diseases like famine, drought, earthquake, earthquake and epidemic are causing the destruction of human civilization. Today the environment is being polluted with the extreme development of industrialization. पर्यावरण से मानव का गहरा संबंध है। मनुष्य जब से इस पृथ्वी पर आया, उसने पर्यावरण को अपने साथ जोड़े रखा है। सूर्य, चन्द्रमा, पृथ्वी, पर्वत, वन, नदियां, महासागर, जल इत्यादि का प्रयोग मनुष्य मानव विकास के आरंभ से करता आ रहा है। मनुष्य अपने दैनिक जीवन में लकड़ी, भोजन, वस्त्र, दवायें इत्यादि प्राप्त करने हेतु प्राकृतिक सम्पदा का शुरू से उपयोग किया है और वर्तमान मे निरंतर जारी है। सामाजिक परिवर्तन के साथ औद्योगिक विकास एवं जनसंख्या वृद्धि में पर्यावरण को प्रभावित किया है। औद्योगीकरण के कारण व्यक्ति आज अपनी आवश्यकता के अनुरूप पर्यावरण को बदलने के लिये सक्रिय कारक बन गया है। वनो का विनाश वायु एवं जलीय प्रदूषण एवं कृषि उत्पादन हेतु कीटनाशक दवाओं के बढ़ते हुए प्रयोग ने वातावरण में व्यापक परिवर्तन किये है। अकाल सूखा अतिवृष्टि भूकम्प एवं महामारी जैसे विभिन्न प्रकार के रोग मानव सभ्यता के विनाश के कारण बने हुए हैं। आज औद्योगीकरण के चरम विकास के साथ पर्यावरण प्रदूषित हो रहा है।

GOELRO plan is 100 years old

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4-9
Author(s):  
Pavel A. BUTYRIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Soviet Republic ◽  
Starting Conditions ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
State Plan

The historical context in which the State Plan for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) was developed, establishment of the GOELRO Commission, the GOELRO Plan content, the specific features of its implementation, and the role of the plan in the soviet period of Russia’s history are considered. Attention is paid to the electrification plants of other countries and territories of all inhabited continents, and to the participation of states in the electrification of countries and regions with small-scale and agricultural production in the 1920 s. The specific features pertinent to the electrification of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic are pointed out, namely, low starting conditions (in 1923, the energy consumption per capita in Russia was 100 times lower than that in Norway), its being state-owned in nature and revolutionary in its purpose: to get done with the main upheavals in the country and to shift the national economy for fore efficient production. The role of V.I. Lenin and G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, who were the initiators of the electrification of Russia, is analyzed in detail. A conclusion is drawn about the need to study both the GOELRO Plan itself and the specific features and circumstances of its implementation within the framework of training modern specialists in electrical engineering.

Ups and downs on the roller coaster of task conflict: the role of group cognitive complexity, collective emotional intelligence and team creativity

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Andreea Gheorghe ◽  
Oana Fodor ◽  
Anișoara Pavelea
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Task Conflict ◽  
Team Creativity ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Explanatory Mechanism ◽  
The Relationship

This study explores the association between task conflict and team creativity and the role of group cognitive complexity (GCC) as a potential explanatory mechanism in a sample of 159 students organized in 49 groups. Moreover, we analyzed the moderating effect of collective emotional intelligence (CEI)in the relationship between task conflict and GCC.As hypothesized, we found that task conflict has a nonlinear relationship with GCC, but contrary to our expectations, it follows a U-shaped association, not an inversed U-shape. In addition,the moderating role of CEI was significant only at low levels. Contrary to our expectation, the mediating role of GCC did not receive empirical support. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.

PERAN MASYARAKAT TERHADAP PEMBAYARAN RETRIBUSI SAMPAH DI KOTA SAMARINDA

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Abd Rachim AF,
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Frequency Analysis ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
The Public ◽  
And Behavior

One of the environmental problems in urban areas is the pollution caused by garbage. The waste problem is caused by various factors such as population growth, living standards changes, lifestyles and behavior, as well as how the waste management system. This study aims to determine how the role of society to levy payments garbage in Samarinda. This research was descriptive; where the data is collected then compiled, described and analyzed used relative frequency analysis. The participation of the public to pay a "levy junk", which stated to pay 96.67%, for each month and the rates stated society cheap, moderate and fairly, respectively 46.08%, 21.21%, 21.04%. Base on the data , the role of the community to pay "levy junk" quite high.

The role of nitrogen in transforming British agricultural productivity production prior to and during the First World War

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-609
Author(s):  
John Martin
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Coal Gas ◽  
Major Threat ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
War Effort ◽  
First World

This paper explores the reasons why artificial or mineral sources of nitrogen, which were more readily available in Britain than in other European countries, were only slowly adopted by farmers in the decades prior to and during the First World War. It considers why nitrogen in the form of sulphate of ammonia, a by-product of coal-gas (town-gas) manufacture, was increasingly exported from Britain for use by German farmers. At the same time Britain was attempting to monopolise foreign supplies of Chilean nitrate, which was not only a valuable source of fertiliser for agriculture but also an essential ingredient of munitions production. The article also investigates the reasons why sulphate of ammonia was not more widely used to raise agricultural production during the First World War, at a time when food shortages posed a major threat to public morale and commitment to the war effort.

LEAD Farmer Based F2F Extension Mode l: Role of Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Technology Adoption Determinants for Enhancing Model’s Effectiveness

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (04) ◽  
Author(s):  
M S MEENA ◽  
R B KALE ◽  
S K SINGH ◽  
A K SINGH
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Farm Families ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Extension System ◽  
Index Value

A study was undertaken in collaboration with eight Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and five Learning and Experience based Advisor (LEAD) farmers were selected by each KVK, employing socio-metric technique. Hence, data were solicited from 40 LEAD farmers from eight districts who were trained by KVKs. Role of KVKs were determined based on their Index Value (IV). Study reveals that KVKs played an important role in skill development of LEAD farmers through organisation of need based and skill-oriented trainings (IV=62) followed by front-line demonstrations on location specific agricultural technologies at farmers’ fields (IV=59.42), and developing linkages between LEAD and fellow farmers (IV=58.33). Key determinants accountable for enhancing effectiveness of this model were enhanced technology adoption (IV=60.13) followed by enhanced agricultural production (IV=57.48) and productivity (IV=57.10). Study reveals that one LEAD farmer adopted 5 agricultural technologies from KVKs. Further, fellow farmers adopted 2 agricultural technologies from LEAD farmers. Hence, it was concluded that this approach may play a significant role in complementing Indian public extension system through reducing cost and coverage of more farm families. This model needs community as well as government support for sustainability and its scalability.

Randomness and Complexity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven E. Vigdor
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Rna World ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Variable Theory ◽  
Cosmological Natural Selection ◽  
Einstein Podolsky Rosen ◽  
World Hypothesis ◽  
Rna World Hypothesis

Chapter 7 describes the fundamental role of randomness in quantum mechanics, in generating the first biomolecules, and in biological evolution. Experiments testing the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox have demonstrated, via Bell’s inequalities, that no local hidden variable theory can provide a viable alternative to quantum mechanics, with its fundamental randomness built in. Randomness presumably plays an equally important role in the chemical assembly of a wide array of polymer molecules to be sampled for their ability to store genetic information and self-replicate, fueling the sort of abiogenesis assumed in the RNA world hypothesis of life’s beginnings. Evidence for random mutations in biological evolution, microevolution of both bacteria and antibodies and macroevolution of the species, is briefly reviewed. The importance of natural selection in guiding the adaptation of species to changing environments is emphasized. A speculative role of cosmological natural selection for black-hole fecundity in the evolution of universes is discussed.

Plant Resistance in Some Modern Soybean Varieties May Favor Population Growth and Modify the Stylet Penetration of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricélia F Almeida ◽  
Clébson S Tavares ◽  
Euires O Araújo ◽  
Marcelo C Picanço ◽  
Eugênio E Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Bemisia Tabaci ◽  
Intrinsic Rate ◽  
Reproductive Rate ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Net Reproductive Rate ◽  
Bt Toxin ◽  
Demographic Performance

Abstract Complaints of severe damage by whiteflies in soybean fields containing genetically engineered (GE) varieties led us to investigate the role of transgenic soybean varieties expressing resistance to some insects (Cry1Ac Bt toxin) and to herbicide (glyphosate) on the population growth and feeding behavior of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) MEAM1 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). In the laboratory, the whiteflies reared on the GE Bt soybeans had a net reproductive rate (R0) 100% higher and intrinsic rate of population increase (rm) 15% higher than those reared on non-GE soybeans. The increased demographic performance was associated with a higher lifetime fecundity. In electrical penetration graphs, the whiteflies reared on the GE soybeans had fewer probes and spent 50% less time before reaching the phloem phase from the beginning of the first successful probe, indicating a higher risk of transmission of whitefly-borne viruses. Data from Neotropical fields showed a higher population density of B. tabaci on two soybean varieties expressing glyphosate resistance and Cry1Ac Bt toxin. These results indicate that some GE soybean varieties expressing insect and herbicide resistances can be more susceptible to whiteflies than non-GE ones or those only expressing herbicide resistance. Most likely, these differences are related to varietal features that increase host-plant susceptibility to whiteflies. Appropriate pest management may be needed to deal with whiteflies in soybean fields, especially in warm regions, and breeders may want to consider the issue when developing new soybean varieties.

scholarly journals The role of historical factors and natural selection in the evolution of breeding systems of Oxalis alpina in the Sonoran desert ‘Sky Islands’

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2163-2175 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. PÉREZ-ALQUICIRA ◽  
F. E. MOLINA-FREANER ◽  
D. PIÑERO ◽  
S. G. WELLER ◽  
E. MARTÍNEZ-MEYER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Sonoran Desert ◽  
Breeding Systems ◽  
Sky Islands ◽  
Historical Factors
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