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 and the growth rate will slow down. Eventually, the growth rate will plateau or level off (Figure 19.5). This population size, which is determined by the maximum population size that a particular environment can sustain, is called the carrying capacity, or K. In real populations, a growing population often overshoots its carrying capacity, and the death rate increases beyond the birth rate causing the population size to decline back to the carrying capacity or below it. Most populations usually fluctuate around the carrying capacity in an undulating fashion rather than existing right at it.
The formula used to calculate logistic growth adds the carrying capacity as a moderating force in the growth rate. The expression “K– N” is equal to the number of individuals that may be added to a population at a given time, and “K– N” divided by “K” is the fraction of the carrying capacity available for further growth. Thus, the exponential growth model is restricted by this factor to generate the logistic growth equation:
Notice that when Nis almost zero the quantity in brackets is almost equal to 1 (or K/K) and growth is close to exponential. When the population size is equal to the carrying capacity, or N= K, the quantity in brackets is equal to zero and growth is equal to zero. A graph of this equation (logistic growth) yields the S-shaped curve (Figure 19.5). It is a more realistic model of population growth than exponential growth. There are three different sections to an S-shaped curve. Initially, growth is exponential because there are few individuals and ample resources available. Then, as resources begin to become limited, the growth rate decreases. Finally, the growth rate levels off at the carrying capacity of the environment, with little change in population number over time.
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