Final answer:
Logistic growth describes population growth in an environment with limited resources and consists of three phases: rapid growth, deceleration, and stabilization at the environment's carrying capacity, creating an S-shaped curve on a graph.
Step-by-step explanation:
The logistic growth mode, also known as the S-curve growth mode, is a model that represents the way populations grow in an environment with limited resources. In a logistic growth curve, there are three key phases: an initial exponential growth phase with few individuals and plentiful resources, a deceleration phase where the growth rate decreases as resources become scarce, and a plateau phase where the population size stabilizes at the carrying capacity of the environment. This carrying capacity (K) is the maximum population size that the environment can sustain.
Real-life examples of logistic growth can be seen in various populations, such as yeast grown in a test tube and wild populations like sheep and harbor seals. These populations exhibit the classic S-shaped curve and often fluctuate around the carrying capacity due to resource availability.