7.4.3 Carrying Capacity

Factors Affecting Carrying Capacity

1. Abiotic Factors:

• Light, water, and space: Essential for growth and reproduction.
• Temperature: Deviations from the optimum can reduce survival rates.
• Nutrient availability: Affects plant growth, which influences food chains.

2. Biotic Factors:

• Competition:
• Intraspecific competition: Members of the same species compete for limited resources, reducing population growth as numbers approach carrying capacity.
• Interspecific competition: Different species compete, potentially excluding one species if resources are limited.
• Predation: Predators control prey populations, maintaining balance.
• Disease: High population density increases the spread of disease, limiting growth.

Population Growth and Carrying Capacity

• Populations grow exponentially when resources are plentiful.
• As resources become limited, the growth rate slows until the carrying capacity is reached. This results in a logistic growth curve (S-shaped).
• Populations may fluctuate around the carrying capacity due to environmental changes or variations in predator-prey relationships.