ES 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Logistic Function, Exponential Growth, Habitat Destruction

• School: NCSU
• Department: Environmental Science
• Course: ES 100
• Professor: Stephanie Jeffries

Document Summary

Geometric rate of increase -the population size that would occur after a certain amount of time under ideal conditions is described by the formula: Problem with geometric growth model: growth is continuous. Such change can be described by modifying our previous formula to: dn/dt=rn. This is a simple mathematical model of population showing exponential growth. Exponential growth only can be maintained by a population as long as nothing limits its growth. Eventually, shortages of food or other resources lead to a reduction in the population size. Carrying capacity (k) the population of a species that can be supported in a specific area without depleting the available resources. Overshoot when a population exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment and deaths result from a scarcity of resources. Population crash a rapid dieback in the population to a level below the carrying capacity. Boom and bust when a population undergoes repeated cycles of overshoots followed by crashes.