Understanding Carrying Capacity

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Understanding Carrying Capacity

• Environmental Science

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Learning Target

• I will predict if population size will increase
  or decrease based upon limiting factors and
  carrying capacity.

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Carrying Capacity

• Key Point 1 An environment can only support as
  many organisms as there is available food, water,
  and free space
• Carrying capacity maximum number of organisms
  that can live somewhere, based on the food,
  water, and free space.
• Every species has a different carrying capacity.
• Food, water, and free space are the
• LIMITING FACTORS that determine
• carrying capacity

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Aquaculture

• Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the
  farming of aquatic organisms such as fish,
  crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants

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Carrying Capacity

• Key Point 2 We can read a carrying capacity
  graph to predict changes in population size

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Carrying Capacity

• When a population is BELOW its carrying capacity,
  it will INCREASE in size
• Birth rate exceeds death rates

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Carrying Capacity

• But if it increases too much and rises ABOVE its
  carrying capacity, it will DECREASE in size
• Death rate exceeds birth rate

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Carrying Capacity

• When a population is BELOW its carrying capacity,
  it will INCREASE in size
• Birth rate exceeds death rates

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Carrying Capacity

• This happens over and over but the increases and
  decreases get smaller and smaller

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Carrying Capacity

• Until eventually, the population size BECOMES
  STABLE AT THE CARRYING CAPACITY
• Birth rate death rate

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determined by
Carrying Capacity
Limiting Factors
such as
above it
Water
Food
Population decreases
below it
Space
Population increases
WORD BANK water, carrying capacity, pop. size
increases, limiting factors, food, pop. size
decreases, space
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Carrying Capacity

• Carrying capacity can also have a broader
  meaning. It can be defined as the number of
  living things (plants and animals) any area of
  land or water can support at any one time.
• Different organisms will have different carrying
  capacities in the same area. Thus, the carrying
  capacity of an ecosystem affects everything that
  lives in it.

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Closing

• An environment can only support as many organisms
  as there is available food, water, and free space
• Carrying capacity maximum number of organisms
  that can live somewhere based on these limiting
  factors
• We can read a carrying capacity graph to predict
  changes in population size
• Below carrying capacity increase
• Above carrying capacity decease
• Over time, population stabilizes at carrying
  capacity