The Biodemography Of Human Reproduction And Fertility

The book that you hold in your hands is the second in a series. The two titles in the series are the following: Genetic Influences on Human Fertility and Sexuality: Theoretical and Empirical Contributions from the Biological and Behavior Sciences Edited by Joseph Lee Rodgers, David C. Rowe, & Warren B. Miller Published by Kluwer Academic Press, 2000 The Biodemography of Human Reproduction and Fertility Edited by Joseph Lee Rodgers & Hans-Peter Kohler Published by Kluwer Academic Press, 2002 The series has published chapters by researchers who study human fertility, from a particular perspective: Biodemography. We welcome your interest and participation in this developing subfield. Or, perhaps, biodemography may be better referred to as a "superfield. " Because biodemography so naturally crosses interdisciplinary boundaries, and because its application draws together researchers from disparate disciplines, it may well be more appropriate to consider that biodemography subsumes a number of other disciplines, rather than the other way around. In this preface, we will describe our own efforts and those of many others to promote and develop the study of human fertility, using methods, models, and theories from both biological and demographic domains. In December, 1997, 25 participants from three different countries gathered in Tucson, Arizona for a small conference with the title "Genetic Influences on Fertility-Related Processes. " That conference represented a fascinating blending of research from two apparently separate domains.

Despite recent advances in our understanding of the genetic basis of human behavior, little of this work has penetrated into formal demography. Very few demographers worry about how biological processes might affect voluntary behavior choices that have demographic consequences even though behavioral geneticists have documented genetics effects on variables such as parenting and divorce. Offspring: Human Fertility Behavior in Demographic Perspective brings together leading researchers from a wide variety of disciplines to review the state of research in this emerging field and to identify promising research directions for the future.

Awarded the W. W. Howells Award for the Outstanding Book in Biological Anthropology, this volume presents a comprehensive, integrated, and up-to-date overview of the major physiological and behavioral factors affecting human reproduction. In attempting to identify the most important causes of variation in fertility within and among human populations, Wood summarizes data from a wide range of societies. Trained as an anthropologist as well as a demographer, he devotes special attention to so-called ""natural fertility"" populations, in which modern contraceptives and induced abortion are not used to limit reproductive output. Such an emphasis enables him to study the interaction of biology and behavior with particular clarity.The volume weaves together the physiological, demographic, and biometric approaches to human fertility in a way that will encourage future interdisciplinary research. Instead of offering a general overview, the focus is to answer one question: Why does fertility and the number of live births vary from couple to couple within any particular population, and from population to population across the human species as a whole?Topics covered include ovarian function, conception and pregnancy, intrauterine mortality, reproductive maturation and senescence, coital frequency and the waiting time to conception, marriage patterns and the initiation of reproduction, the fertility-reducing effects of breastfeeding, the impact of maternal nutrition on reproduction, and reproductive seasonality. This unique combination of comprehensive subject matter and an integrated analytical approach makes the book ideally suited both as a graduate-level textbook and as a reference work.

This book presents original data on the proximate determinants of fertility in Japan. Its goal is to disaggregate low fertility levels in Japan into physiological, behavioral, and social components. Further, the book reviews previous studies on the proximate determinants of fertility in Japan, and compares the data to that on other countries. This book is the first to summarize previous research projects conducted in Japan on this topic, and proposes future research directions to fill the remaining research gaps. Further, it sheds new light on the similarities and differences between the fertility level in Japan and in other countries in terms of biodemographical components, helping readers understand the mechanisms of fertility change in Japan.

Surveys the state of knowledge and research on the determinants of human reproduction. This book adopts an inter-disciplinary approach and integrates information from demographic, epidemiological and biological studies of fertility. The chapters provide a comprehensive overview of reproductive processes.

An authoritative overview of the concepts and applications of biological demography This book provides a comprehensive introduction to biodemography, an exciting interdisciplinary field that unites the natural science of biology with the social science of human demography. Biodemography is an essential resource for demographers, epidemiologists, gerontologists, and health professionals as well as ecologists, population biologists, entomologists, and conservation biologists. This accessible and innovative book is also ideal for the classroom. James Carey and Deborah Roach cover everything from baseline demographic concepts to biodemographic applications, and present models and equations in discrete rather than continuous form to enhance mathematical accessibility. They use a wealth of real-world examples that draw from data sets on both human and nonhuman species and offer an interdisciplinary approach to demography like no other, with topics ranging from kinship theory and family demography to reliability engineering, tort law, and demographic disasters such as the Titanic and the destruction of Napoleon's Grande Armée. Provides the first synthesis of demography and biology Covers baseline demographic models and concepts such as Lexis diagrams, mortality, fecundity, and population theory Features in-depth discussions of biodemographic applications like harvesting theory and mark-recapture Draws from data sets on species ranging from fruit flies and plants to elephants and humans Uses a uniquely interdisciplinary approach to demography, bringing together a diverse range of concepts, models, and applications Includes informative "biodemographic shorts," appendixes on data visualization and management, and more than 150 illustrations of models and equations

Many reproductive and developmental health problems are caused by exposure to chemicals that are widely dispersed in our environment. These problems include infertility, miscarriage, poor pregnancy outcomes, abnormal fetal development, early puberty, endometriosis, and diseases and cancers of reproductive organs. The compelling nature of the collective science has resulted in recognition of a new field of environmental reproductive health. Focusing on exposures to environmental contaminants, particularly during critical periods in development and their potential effects on all aspects of future reproductive life-course, this book provides the first comprehensive source of information bringing together the arguments that are spread out among various scientific disciplines in environmental health, clinical and public health fields. It provides a review of the science in key areas of the relationship between environmental contaminants and reproductive health outcomes, and recommendations on efforts toward prevention in clinical care and public policy.