APES 3.4 Carrying Capacity

Limitations to Growth

• Biotic potential: the maximum reproductive rate under ideal conditions
• Ideally, population grows quickly, then slows, then levels off at the maximum
• K indicates the carrying capacity: the maximum number of organisms the environment can support without degradation of resources

Overshoot and Dieback

• Of course, real life is not ideal
• The population often overshoots the carrying capacity
  • Since the resources can no longer support those numbers, the population experiences a large loss, and falls below the capacity
• This creates a constant rise and fall where the population goes above the capacity, many die, and this repeats
• Animals aren’t strategizing how many babies they can support, they just have babies and deal with losses if they occur