Difference between revisions of "Carrying capacity"

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'''Carrying capacity''' usually refers to the biological carrying capacity of a population level that can be supported for an organism, given the quantity of food, habitat, water and other life infrastructure present. For the human population other variables such as sanitation and medical care are sometimes considered as infrastructure. As population density increases, birth rates often decrease and death rates typically increase. Carrying capacity is the point at which these two rates are equal. [This last sentence is not true. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate is the "natural increase." The carrying capacity could support a positive natural increase, or could require a negative natural increase.] Carrying capacity is thus the number of individuals an environment can support without significant negative impacts to the given organism and its environment.
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{{Definition|title=Carrying capacity
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|definition= 1. Maximum population size expressed as total number of individuals, biomass, or population density that a given unit of habitat can support indefinitely without deterioration of the character and quality of the resource; <br> 2. The level of use, at a given level of management, at which a natural or man-made resource can sustain itself over a long period of time.}}
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==Notes==
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The concept of carrying capacity incorporates:
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#physical space,
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#food and/or nutrient availability,
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#waste removal/recycling,
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#mortality factors,
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#time or temporal factors,
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#other factors.
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Examples of carrying capacity:<br>
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*The amount of a given activity that can be accommodated within the environmental capacity of a defined area (FAO); <br>
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*The maximum level of recreational use, in terms of numbers of people and types of activity, that can be accommodated before the ecological value of the area declines; <br>
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*The maximum quantity of fish that any particular body of water can support over a long period without negative effects to the fish and to the environment.
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==Related articles==
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[[Carrying capacity analysis]]

Latest revision as of 12:07, 1 March 2022

Definition of Carrying capacity:
1. Maximum population size expressed as total number of individuals, biomass, or population density that a given unit of habitat can support indefinitely without deterioration of the character and quality of the resource;
2. The level of use, at a given level of management, at which a natural or man-made resource can sustain itself over a long period of time.
This is the common definition for Carrying capacity, other definitions can be discussed in the article


Notes

The concept of carrying capacity incorporates:

  1. physical space,
  2. food and/or nutrient availability,
  3. waste removal/recycling,
  4. mortality factors,
  5. time or temporal factors,
  6. other factors.

Examples of carrying capacity:

  • The amount of a given activity that can be accommodated within the environmental capacity of a defined area (FAO);
  • The maximum level of recreational use, in terms of numbers of people and types of activity, that can be accommodated before the ecological value of the area declines;
  • The maximum quantity of fish that any particular body of water can support over a long period without negative effects to the fish and to the environment.

Related articles

Carrying capacity analysis

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