Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The equilibrium population size is the number of individuals in a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely without any significant changes in availability of resources.
This is similar to equilibrium population size but it specifically refers to the maximum population size that an environment can support without degradation.
Population Dynamics: This term refers to how populations change over time due to birth rates, death rates, immigration, and emigration.
These are environmental conditions such as food availability or disease that limit growth and reproduction within a population and therefore influence its equilibrium size.