What is Carrying capacity?
In [[ecology]], the '''carrying capacity''' of an [[environment]] is the number of [[organisms]] of a particular species that can live there depending on the amount of resources it has. If too many organisms live in an environment, it is called [[overpopulation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tititudorancea.org/z/overpopulation.htm|title=Overpopulation|website=www.tititudorancea.org}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The carrying capacity of an environment can change, and [[humans]] can have an effect on the carrying capacity. For example, [[agriculture]] and [[irrigation]] allow feeding more people; meaning the human carrying capacity is increased.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://populationinstitutecanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Hopfenberg-Human-Carrying-Capacity-Is-Determined-by-Food-Availability-2003.pdf|title=Human Carrying Capacity is Determined by Food Availability|work=Russel Hopfenberg, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department, [[Duke University]], USA}}</ref> Some things that can change an environment's carrying capacity are [[pollution]] and the use of [[natural resources]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enviroliteracy.org/environment-society/population-studies/carrying-capacity/|title=Carrying Capacity|website=The Environmental Literacy Council|access-date=2019-02-14|archive-date=2020-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926170933/https://enviroliteracy.org/environment-society/population-studies/carrying-capacity/|url-status=dead}}</ref> ==Related pages== *[[Population]] ==References== {{reflist}} {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Ecology]]