Answer to Question #100569 in Biology for charlie

Question

What is an organisms carrying capacity, can it be changed, what happens when it is reached?

Answer 1

An organism carrying capacity is a maximum number of individuals of a certain species that can exist and reproduce on a given territory. The capacity may change over time due to alterations in the available resources including food, water, inhabitants space, weather conditions, and other biotic and abiotic factor. Reaching carrying capacity leads to the exhaustion of the resources that suppresses the further growth of the population.