As resources in a population become less available, the population:
C. Reaches carrying capacity
When resources in a population become less available, the population will not be able to continue growing even more because there would be enough resources, and so, it has reached its carrying capacity.
When the exponential phase of a logistic growth curve of a population ceases:
C. Population growth begins to slow down.
The population will continue to grow but will do so at a slower and steadier rate.
1. Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of individuals in a population or the maximum population size that can be indefinitely supported by a system. As the population size grows above the carrying capacity, the resources become scarce and the negative interactions among the individuals such as competition increase. The scarcity of one or more resources slows down population growth.
2. In a logistic growth curve, the lag phase of population growth is followed by the log phase during which the population size grows exponentially. However, as the population size reaches the carrying capacity of the system, the exponential growth is stopped and the population enters into the stationary phase of growth. Therefore, once the carrying capacity is reached, the population growth is slowed down due to limited resources.
