carrying capacity
KAR-ee-ing kah-PAS-ih-tee
ˈkæriɪŋ kəˈpæsɪtiListen
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Dictionary meaning
the maximum population size of a species that a given environment can sustainably support over the long term given the available food, water, habitat, and other limiting resources; represented as K in the logistic growth equation, carrying capacity is not a fixed constant but varies with environmental conditions, resource availability, and interspecies competition; exceeding carrying capacity leads to population overshoot and subsequent crash, a dynamic central to wildlife management, fisheries science, and debates about human population and planetary boundaries
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