Population pressure, a term summarizing the stress brought about by an excessive

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

and its consequences, is used both in conjunction with

human overpopulation Human overpopulation (or human population overshoot) is the idea that human populations may become too large to be sustainability, sustained by their environment or resources in the long term. The topic is usually discussed in the context of wor ...

and with other animal populations that suffer from too many individuals per area (or volume in the case of aquatic organisms). In the case of humans, absolute numbers of individuals may lead to population pressure, but the same is true for

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

and

overconsumption Overconsumption describes a situation where consumers overuse their available goods and services to where they can't, or don't want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this is the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater ...

of available resources and ensuing

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

by otherwise-normal population densities. Similarly, when the

carrying capacity The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the ...

of the environment goes down, unchanged population numbers may prove too high and again produce significant pressure. Governments and international organizations have responded to increasing population pressure by implementing a range of policy measures that include family planning programs, investments in healthcare and education, and efforts to improve gender equality. These interventions aim to manage fertility rates and ensure sustainable development in high-density regions. "Pressure" is to be understood metaphorically and hints at the analogy between a gas or fluid that under

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and eve ...

will tend to escape a bounded container. Similarly, "population pressure" in animal populations in general usually leads to

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

activity, and in humans, it may additionally cause land loss because of land conversion of previously-uninhabited areas and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

. Advances in technology have also provided new tools to manage the effects of population pressure, including innovations in agriculture (such as vertical farming), water purification, urban planning, and clean energy. These technologies help support larger populations with fewer environmental consequences. However, responses to population pressure must also consider ethical concerns. Experts emphasize that policies should respect human rights and avoid coercive practices. Rights-based approaches, which focus on education, voluntary family planning, and community empowerment, are seen as more sustainable and just. When no space for evading the pressure is available, another severe consequence can be the reduction or even

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

of the population under pressure. Based on ideas by

Thomas Malthus Thomas Robert Malthus (; 13/14 February 1766 – 29 December 1834) was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography. In his 1798 book ''An Essay on the Principle of Population'', Mal ...

as laid out in ''

An Essay on the Principle of Population The book ''An Essay on the Principle of Population'' was first published anonymously in 1798, but the author was soon identified as Thomas Robert Malthus. The book warned of future difficulties, on an interpretation of the population increasing ...

'',

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

theorized that population pressure must generate a

struggle for existence The concept of the struggle for existence (or struggle for life) concerns the competition or battle for resources needed to live. It can refer to human society, or to organisms in nature. The concept is ancient, and the term ''struggle for existe ...

in which many individuals die, and better-adapted variants are more likely to survive and to reproduce.

External links

References

{{reflist Population ecology

See also

External links

References