3.4 Carrying Capacity

A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in a particular geographic area. Each population needs specific resources due to size, reproductive strategies, and survivorship curves. However, there is a limit to the number of individuals that an ecosystem can support. 

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Ecosystem Limitations

If ecosystems had an infinite amount of resources, populations would grow exponentially. Since resources are, in fact, finite, carrying capacity (K) is the maximum population size of a species that can be sustained, given the food, habitat, water, sunlight, and other necessities available in the environment. 

Once a population exceeds carrying capacity, a population overshoot occurs. Population overshoot can lead to a range of negative consequences, such as resource depletion, environmental degradation, and increased competition for resources. In some cases, population overshoot can lead to a population crash, where the population size decreases rapidly as individuals are unable to find the resources they need to survive. This crash is also referred to as a die-off. 

Die-offs are attributable to combinations of a lack of available resources, famine, disease, and competition. 

🎥 Watch Jenni MacLean review this key topic here.