Human impact on evolution

[tvashtarkatena]

NYT

[Stefan]

duh.

 

It is human population growth. Thanks to human medicine.

 

Just wait till you see the impact of what the Gates Foundation will do to the human growth population in about 40 years.

[tvashtarkatena]

The article's about the effect of human predation on the physiology and lifecycle of certain species, and how those changes might not be such a good thing for their long term viability. It highlights the differences between human and non-human predation.

[Fairweather]

Forget the critters. Just look what we've done to our own feet and eyes!

 

[STP]

Interesting article. Lemme try to look at it from a different angle, not necessarily from an evolutionary but rather an ecological outlook first.

 

The standard line from pro-hunting groups (and even state conservation agencies) is that harvesting decreases population pressure so that starvation does not occur in the absence of 'natural' predators.

 

Also, production of larger fruit (berries, etc.) occurs as biological response to selective pressures such as harvesting. For plants, also see the effect described in the -3/2 power thinning law.

 

As far as evolution, I haven't read the entire article so it's just as easy that I misinterpret it. So, we're not talking about Larmarckian evolution, but essentially it's artificial selection that has an effect on phenotypic variability. The phenotypic expression of the genotype shouldn't be eliminated in the species although you might see something similar to the different dog breeds (yet it's still one species).

 

There may be other environmental effects that produce early maturity although I'd have to agree that selection at the population level is likely due to effects on reproductive success but this would have to occur across the board.

 

The problem I had (probably just me) is how do you study the isolated effects of something on something? For example, do we make allowances for type of reproductive strategy such as K and r-selection?

 

Aren't we sometimes producing theories (models) or more importantly, policy based on faulty parts (peer accepted ideas from research studies)? At this juncture, it becomes more a matter of politics (the art and science of guiding or controlling people).