BRAINCAKECarrying Capacity
The carrying capacity of an environment is the maximum population size of a species that the environment can support sustainably over a long period of time.
When a population grows, resources such as food, water, shelter and space eventually become limited. Competition increases, and predation and disease become more common as individuals live closer together. The death rate rises (and the birth rate may fall) until they are equal. The population then stops growing and levels off at the carrying capacity, which is the stationary phase of the growth curve.
In reality, a population does not stay exactly at the carrying capacity. It fluctuates around it:
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Key terms in this lesson
- limiting factor
- A factor that is in shortest supply, or otherwise restricts a process, and so controls the rate of that process or the size of a population.
More in Populations and Sustainability
- Population Size
- Limiting Factors of Population Size
- Density-Dependent and Density-Independent Factors
- Predator-Prey Relationships
- Interspecific Competition
- Intraspecific Competition
- Conservation
- Preservation
All 17 lessons in Populations and Sustainability · All OCR A-level Biology topics