Demographics Chunk Body Paragraph Essay

According to PAIR Houston, up to 3000 refugees arrive in Houston each year, making it
the number one location for refugee settlement nationwide. Refugees from countries around the
world such as Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia come to resettle from persecution, war and
violence, and political instability. In regards to their resettlement, these refugees face a variety of
challenges such as adjusting to a new lifestyle, facing prejudice demands, and feeling isolated.
As a demographer, Houston can support one million refugees in the Sam Houston National
Forest.
Before the arrival of Europeans, native societies were hunters-gathers and identified as
indigenous peoples. Native American societies had their own diverse cultures and formed into
140-160 different American Indian tribes. Furthermore, they developed small-scale agriculture,
collected wild plants, and created tools and weapons for defending and hunting. After
Columbuss voyage in 1492, Europeans began to colonize the Native American societies to
convert the Indians to Christianity, search for gold, and seek for power and domination.
However, a major consequence of their colonization was the spread of diseases and violence
towards the Indians that contributed to the decline in their population. Based on the historical
evidence, recommendations to consider are to establish friendly relations between the refugee
groups and respect each others boundaries. In addition, the resettlement of the refugees would
cause environmental and cultural impacts; predictions in the animals population would decline,
water source would be limited, and diffusion in cultures may transpire.
In importance of our refugees settlement from Somalia, a survivorship curve measures
the number of individuals surviving in a given species. Correspondingly, organisms use
survivorship strategies in relation to reproductive strategies in order to adapt to their

environments. Survivorship curves can be used to compare generations, populations, or even

different species. Survivorship curves actually describe the survivorship in a cohort. (Rauschert,
1) Additionally, these curves distinguish into three patterns: type I, type II, and type III. Type I
survivorship displays a high probability of surviving in their lifetime, type II survivorship
demonstrates a proportion of individuals dying at a constant rate, and type III survivorship shows
high mortality at young ages, but only a few live to adulthood. For example, type I survivorship
are humans who are k-selected species because advances in medicine and technology created
their chances of surviving highly probable; k-selected species compete for resources, care for
their young, and maintain themselves in a stable environment. Type II survivorship are birds
since they can die at any stage randomly and their mortality does not depends on its age. Lastly,
type III survivorship is fishes who are r-selected species; they produce many offspring, however,
most of them die quickly at a young age because of lack of parental care and an unstable
environment. In regards to the refugees, their survivorship curve and reproductive strategies
demonstrate their success in the relocation and provide a visual representation of what impacts
may occur in the area. Thus, these curves help determine the patterns of survivorship and
mortality in populations.
The theory of demographic transition describes the four stages of change in birth and
death rates to predict the growth of populations. The theory of Demographic Transition can be
divided into two parts for purposes of analysis and criticism. The first area, which we will
consider, describes the general decline in birth and death rates in industrialized countries. The
second part deals with attempts to explain why the change occurred. (Wells, 2) Based on this
evidence, the theory makes predictions of the changes in a population growth and goes through
the four stages: preindustrial, transitional, industrial, and postindustrial. For example, Uganda is

in the preindustrial stage, which means both birth and death rates are high. This indicates that
there is a constraint to the food supply, limited access to health care, and poor family planning.
Next, transitional shows a decrease in death rates, but birth rates remain high. Somalia, where
our refugees originated from, is in stage two due to improvements in sanitation decreasing the
risk of disease and increasing life expectancy, women are having smaller families, and families
are investing in health, education, and savings. Then, industrial is when birth rates fall and death
rates are low due to increasing in womens status and education, access to contraception,
urbanization, and improved economic conditions such as India. Lastly, industrial occurs as the
population growth is stable due to birth and death rates remain low; Germany is in industrial
because of their well-educated citizens, strong economy, and expanded employment
opportunities for women. Moreover, this connects to the sustainable refugee population because
their population identifies in a certain stage that contributes to its growth and can determine
solutions as to how a developing country can transition to the last stage. Nevertheless, the
demographic transition theory suggests that populations will grow according to its four-stage
model.
The sigmoidal growth curve defines into an S-shaped, in which a population begins
growing slowly, then rapidly grows, and finally reaches its carrying capacity. In addition, this
curve classifies into three phases: exponential, transitional, and plateau. The exponential growth
curve occurs as resources are unlimited and the population continues to grow at a greater rate.
In the first half of the curve, the growth is a positive increasing rate, i.e., exponential growth.
However, at 50% of the total growth (i.e., the point of inflection in the logistic curve), the growth
rate changes to a positive decreasing rate as the growth curve approaches an asymptote. (Bauer,
16) In the exponential growth phase, population growth is the fastest because the birth rate and

immigration exceed death rate and emigration. The next phase, transitional, the population slows
down due to disease, predation, and competition. These limiting factors identify as density
dependent factors because the effect is dependent on the number of individuals in the population.
The last phase is when the population is at zero or at equilibrium because it has reached its
carrying capacity. Likewise, these growth curves apply to the refugees population because of
their limited resources such as water and food supply in the Sam Houston National Forest based
on the transitional phase. In addition, they have reached its carrying capacity since Houston can
only support one million refugees. Based on these curves, we are able to develop effective
solutions in order to improve our relocation and avoid any harm to their environment. Above all,
sigmoidal and exponential growth curves demonstrate a representation to understand the changes
in a population.
In conclusion, Houston is able to support one million refugees in Houston, specifically,
the Sam Houston National Forest. The survivorship curves and reproductive strategies,
demographic transition theory, and sigmoidal and exponential growth curves all contribute in
sustaining the refugee population and are essential factors to consider for a resettlement. More
importantly, refugees need our assistance to build a stable community with the necessary
resources until they are able to return to their homes.