How Did Charles Elton Contribute To The Environment

Animals fight for survival daily, and sometimes their lives depend on their ability to adapt with their surrounding environments. Natural Selection is the process in which individuals have certain traits that allow

This paper will review and discuss Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, A Natural History of Four Meals, which was named a New York Times best seller. Michael holds the prestigious title of the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at Berkeley, as well as being a contributor to the New York Times Magazine. He also has the distinction of being named one of the one hundred most influential people in the world by Time magazine. The author will discuss the book, its references to the omnivores dilemma, but most importantly how the author views the content of the book. Which is how the government and the agribusiness have their hands on our dinner table deciding what and how American’s should eat.

Plants and animals are very important to human life. Plants and animals developed natural forms

What am I exactly eating? Where does our food come from? Why should I care? “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” may forever change the way you think about food. I enjoyed Mr. Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and learned a great deal of information. Pollan’s book is a plea for us to stop and think for a moment about our whole process of eating. Pollan sets out to corn fields and natural farms, goes hunting and foraging, all in the name of coming to terms with where food really comes from in modern America and what the ramifications are for the eaters, the eaten, the economy and the environment. The results are far more than I expected them to be.

The article Food Ark by Charles Siebert was an informative read that enticed a viewer, but possibly left them with too many questions. Many ideas and questions were left unfinished or unanswered making the reader dig deeper into other sources. Food Ark was based around the idea of the biodiversity in modern agriculture, or the lack thereof. They introduced the topic by providing the viewer with a few statistics that supported “food variety extinction”(Siebert).

“It is possible that the plants and animals that he brings with him have caused the extinction of more species of life forms in the last four hundred years than the usual processes of evolution might kill off in a million.”

Plants in a area may have stopped people in that area from domesticating the plants, 12 plants account for 80% of the world’s food tonnage

Kingsolver, B., Hopp. L. S. & Kingsolver, C. (2007). Animal, Vegetable, miracle: A year of food life. New York: Harper Perennial.

The first example of human manipulation of changes within the biosphere is through expansion. The rapid growth of the population has led to expansion in development; the need for more space is causing strain on other living organisms such as plants and animals. Human procurement of forest, grass, and wetlands has weighed on the animal population heavily. As a result of this domination, animals have lost areas they use to thrive in, causing migration and in more serious cases extinction. Animals are a prevalent source of protein for humans, and when a species is threatened by extinction, it not only disrupts the balance of the ecosystem, but it also disrupts the food chain. The more resources that are required to sustain human life, the bigger the need to migrate to surrounding areas in a short period of time (Haines).

He finally observed that overtime these birds developed different physical characteristics to help them be able to survive and adapt to their surroundings. Darwin developed the “Natural Selection” theory that stated that plants and animals adapt to their surroundings and environments in order to survive. He also stated that older generations of these species would eventually die out, because they do not have the newer characteristics that needed to be developed in order to live.

"Climate is the product of two factors: the long-term patterns in the circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, and topography, the very slowly changing shape of the land surface" (Lee et. al, 2013, p. 101). The topography of the earth has changed due to human actions which has resulted in an increase in erosion. "The process of natural selection: a population is selected by natural forces such as the ability to elude predators, survive drought, or reproduce" (Lee et. al, 2013, p.113). The use of the phrase "elude" suggest that animals settle in place where they are not hunted or displaced. We as a civilization have begin to take over their land or area. The outpouring of of biological diversity calls us to marvel at its fecundity. It also

There are many definitions of what constitutes an adaptation and a great debate amongst many famous biologists and philosophers, each championing their own definition of adaptation. Historical definitions include the ‘design’ oriented approach of Williams, who claims

In addition, biodiversity will be crucial for humanities continued survival in the case of climate change or widespread crop failures. The majority of people on earth are reliant on four crops for subsistence; wheat, rice, corn, and millet. (11) These crops are threatened by climate change and the spread of disease facilitated by modern transportation. If humanity is to survive such an eventuality it must be ready to draw upon the earth’s biodiversity for replacements. And while there are approximately 50 thousand plant species that could offer alternatives, this bank of resources is quickly thinning as various ecosystems are being destroyed. (11)

Nearly everything that a human does is in response to the environment. Our lives are defined by what is around us and what we find in front of us, whether this means accepting, dealing with or changing it. This has been the pattern since primates first stood up and became Homo erectus, and has continued until we considered ourselves doubly wise. The shape of the land affected where humans moved. Weather was something with which to contend. Fire affected humans until they conquered it – and herein lies the core of the relationship. The earth affects humans, and humans affect it back, viewing characteristics and patterns as problems and challenges, and finding a solution.

This means that humans not only need plants for eating, but also need their created oxygen to break the food down efficiently.