Carrying capacity, denoted K, is the maximum population size that an environment can support indefinitely given the available resources. Populations rarely sit exactly at K; they oscillate around it, sometimes overshooting and crashing.
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Lesson PreviewLesson 4 of 9 in this unit
3.4 Carrying Capacity
Part of Populations in AP® Environmental Science. Read the opening section, then create a free account for the full interactive lesson, practice, and progress tracking.
In this unit
9 lessons
- 3.1Generalist and Specialist SpeciesPreview lesson
- 3.2K-Selected r-Selected SpeciesPreview lesson
- 3.3Survivorship CurvesPreview lesson
- 3.4Carrying CapacityThis lesson
- 3.5Population Growth and Resource AvailabilityPreview lesson
- 3.6Age Structure DiagramsPreview lesson
- 3.7Total Fertility RatePreview lesson
- 3.8Human Population DynamicsPreview lesson
- 3.9Demographic TransitionPreview lesson
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