Carrying Capacity

any environment has a….

limited capacity to support a certain number of individuals.

what is carrying capacity?

the maximum population size that can be supported in a particular area without destroying the habitat

what biotic factors affect carrying capacity

availability of food, predation, and competition with other animals

what abiotic factors affect carrying capacity

water, space, shelter, climate

what are limiting factors

environmental conditions that limit the growth, abundance, or distribution of a population.

meaning of density dependent

restricting a population to be between a certain number, range, or density.

meaning of density independent

limiting factors to an organism, but don’t restrict them to be between a certain number, range, or density.

density dependant factors examples

disease, food availability, predation

density independant factors examples

weather, natural disasters

examples of how human activities alter the carrying capacity of an ecosystem

urbanization, overfishing, polluting