Aim: How do limiting factors determine an ecosystem’s carrying capacity?

Population growth is based on available resources. Exponential growth is a rapid population increase due to an abundance of resources.

Logistic growth is due to a population facing limited resources.

Carrying Capacity The amount of organisms the environment can support without competition When organisms exceed carrying capacity, competition begins

What happens when carrying capacity is exceeded? 1. A population may even out at its carrying capacity Chaotic pattern …. Unpredictable, random Cyclical pattern …. Predictable increase and decrease over time Damped oscillation pattern…. Population exceeds then fails to meet carrying capacity; eventually settles 2. A population may crash- a population crash is a dramatic decline in the size of a population over a short period of time.

What happens when carrying capacity is exceeded?

Limiting factors limit population growth. A limiting factor is something that keeps the size of a population down.

Limiting Factors May be Density Dependent or Density Independent Density-Dependant Affected by the population density These will not affect the population SIZE until it grows too high Density-Independant Not affected by the population density These can affect the population SIZE at any time. State whether the following factors are density DEPENDENT or INDEPENDENT Natural disasters Parasitism Disease Competition Temperature Human activities Predation Sunlight Overcrowding

Wolves versus Elk Wolves versus Elk Wolves are Limiting Factors; Carrying Capacity would be how many Elk can survive in their habitat naturally