Download Carrying capacity

Notes 2 Carrying
Capacity
SCI 10
Ecology
Carrying Capacity

Carrying capacity: The largest
population of a species that can be
supported by an environment
Carrying Capacity

Determined by 4 factors:
1.
Matter and energy

2.
Food chains


3.
# of predators
Size of populations lower down on the chain (the amount of food
available)
Competition


4.
Sunlight, water, carbon, etc.
Intraspecific: between the members of a same species
Interspecific: between different species
Population density: the number of individuals that can live in one
place at the same time

Density-dependent factors: factors that are present during
times of overpopulation (stress, spread of illness and parasites,
etc.)

Density-independent factors: factors that are present
regardless of population size (fire, flood, earthquake, volcanic
eruption, drought, hurricane)
Healthy Ecosystems
An ecosystem where each organism has
many different food sources is more
sustainable
 Greater biodiversity (variety in number of
different species) implies a healthier
ecosystem


Better able to withstand changes (loss of a
population of organisms, illness, etc.)
Graphing Carrying Capacity
Population (Y axis) vs. Year/Time (X axis)
 If the line on the graph is:

 Going
up: population is increasing
 Going down: population is decreasing
 Horizontal: population is at its carrying
capacity for that species in that ecosystem
Example
Graph Questions
During which months is the hare
population increasing?
 What is the carrying capacity of hares in
Sackville?

To Do

Notes 2 Fill-in-the-blanks (use your text
and these notes)