EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -As a population grows, it will most likely stop growing at what size? number of individuals in the species.

Detailed explanation-2: -As resources are depleted, population growth rate slows and eventually stops: This is known as logistic growth. The population size at which growth stops is generally called the carrying capacity (K), which is the number of individuals of a particular population that the environment can support.

Detailed explanation-3: -As population size approaches the carrying capacity of the environment, the intensity of density-dependent factors increases. For example, competition for resources, predation, and rates of infection increase with population density and can eventually limit population size.

Detailed explanation-4: -If a population exceeds carrying capacity, the ecosystem may become unsuitable for the species to survive. If the population exceeds the carrying capacity for a long period of time, resources may be completely depleted. Populations may die off if all of the resources are exhausted.

Detailed explanation-5: -In logistic growth, a population’s per capita growth rate gets smaller and smaller as population size approaches a maximum imposed by limited resources in the environment, known as the carrying capacity ( K).