Fertility and Resources [Paperback]

In this book, the gap between socio-ecology and population demography is bridged, by showing how animals and humans adjust their fertility to environmental conditions.Fertility in animals reflects access to scarce resources, such as food and territory. In humans the situation is more complex. In this book, the gap between socio-ecology and population demography is bridged, by showing how animals and humans adjust their fertility to environmental conditions.Fertility in animals reflects access to scarce resources, such as food and territory. In humans the situation is more complex. In this book, the gap between socio-ecology and population demography is bridged, by showing how animals and humans adjust their fertility to environmental conditions.Fertility in animals directly reflects access to scarce resources, such as food and territory. In humans, the situation is more complex. Patterns of breast feeding, contraception and ideas about age of marriage and desired family size all affect fertility. This book explores the relation among these factors and access to scarce resources, via income, education and other forms of status.List of contributors; 1. Introduction J. Landers and V. Reynolds; 2. Environmental and social determinants of fecundity in primates R. I. M. Dunbar; 3. Biological aspects of fertility among Third World populations L. Rosetta; 4. A preliminary report on fertility and socioeconomic changes in two Papua New Guinea communities T. Taufa, V. Mea and J. Lourie; 5. The cultural context of fertility transition in immigrant Mennonites J. C. Stevenson and P. M. Everson; 6. Inter-relationships between consanguinity, religion and fertility in Karnataka, South India A. H. Bittles, A. Radha Rama Devi and N. Appaji Rao; 7. Resources and the fertility transition in the countryside of England and Wales P. R. A. Hinde; 8. Fertility decline and birth spacing among London Quakers J. Landers; 9. Population growth, innovation and resource exploitation E. Boserup; 10.lã$