EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Malthus published a book in 1798 stating that populations with unlimited natural resources grow very rapidly, after which population growth decreases as resources become depleted. This accelerating pattern of increasing population size is called exponential growth.

Detailed explanation-2: -In exponential growth, a population’s per capita (per individual) growth rate stays the same regardless of population size, making the population grow faster and faster as it gets larger. In nature, populations may grow exponentially for some period, but they will ultimately be limited by resource availability.

Detailed explanation-3: -In the real world, with its limited resources, exponential growth cannot continue indefinitely. Exponential growth may occur in environments where there are few individuals and plentiful resources, but when the number of individuals gets large enough, resources will be depleted, slowing the growth rate.

Detailed explanation-4: -Exponential growth may occur in environments where there are few individuals and plentiful resources, but when the number of individuals gets large enough, resources will be depleted and the growth rate will slow down. Eventually, the growth rate will plateau or level off (Figure 1).