Question

The carrying capacity of a population is determined by its
A. Limiting resources
B. Natality
C. Mortality
D. Population growth rate

Answer 1

Hint: In logistic growth a situation occurs where there is limited resources in the environment. In nature, a given habitat has enough resources to support a maximum possible number, beyond which no further growth is possible. This natural limit for that species in that habitat is called carrying capacity. It is denoted by K. thus nature doesn’t provide unlimited resources availability to permit exponential growth to the population of any species.

Complete answer:
a) Limiting resources- when resources become limited the growth of an organism stops. The carrying capacity is reduced. So the option is correct.
b) Natality- it refers to the number of births during a given period in the population that are added to initial density. It does not have any role with carrying capacity. So this option is incorrect.
c) Mortality- It is the number of deaths in the population during a given year. Hence this option is also incorrect.
d) Population growth rate- it is the time period of speed at which population is growing. So this option is also not correct.

Our required answer is a] that is limiting resources.

Note:
Some important aspects of logistic growth are:-
> A population growing in a habitat with limited resources shows initially a lag phase, followed by a phase of acceleration then deceleration and finally an asymptote, when the population density reaches the carrying capacity.
> Such a population growth is represented by a sigmoid curve.