Carrying capacity
Definition
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a species that an environment can sustainably support without degrading the ecosystem or depleting resources.
Analogy
Think of carrying capacity as the seating capacity of a movie theater. Just like a theater has a maximum number of seats available for viewers, an ecosystem has a limit to how many individuals it can support without causing harm to its resources and balance.
Related terms
Limiting factors: These are environmental factors that restrict the growth, abundance, or distribution of organisms within an ecosystem.
Ecological footprint: A measure of human impact on Earth's ecosystems, representing the amount of land and resources required to sustainably support a population.
Density-dependent factors: These are limiting factors whose effects intensify as population density increases, such as competition for resources or disease outbreaks.
"Carrying capacity" appears in:
Subjects (3)
Study guides (4)
Additional resources (1)
Practice Questions (9)
- K-selected species tend to reproduce once their habitat reaches carrying capacity.
- What happens when a population exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment?
- What factors contribute to determining the carrying capacity of an ecosystem?
- What happens to a population that exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment?
- Which of the following is true regarding the relationship between carrying capacity and population growth?
- Which of the following factors can contribute to an increase in carrying capacity for a population?
- Which type of growth occurs when a population exceeds its carrying capacity and goes beyond the limit of available resources?
- Which population growth model is described by a line at the top of the graph indicating the population's carrying capacity?
- Which type of growth occurs when a pollution exceeds its carrying capacity and declines due to limited resources?
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