Final answer:
Logistic population growth is characterized by exponential growth at first, transitioning to an S-shaped curve as it approaches the limited carrying capacity of the environment, with density-dependent factors influencing growth as the population size increases.
Step-by-step explanation:
The characteristics of logistic population growth include several key concepts that describe how populations change in size over time under real-world conditions with limited resources. One of the initial phases of logistic growth is exponential growth, where the population size increases dramatically when resources are abundant.
However, as the population grows, it encounters limited carrying capacity, which is the maximum number of individuals the environment can sustainably support. This leads to the growth pattern forming an iconic S-shaped growth curve.
During this process, the population is affected by density-dependent factors, such as competition for food and space, which influence the population more as it becomes larger and more crowded.
Initially, in a logistic growth scenario, the population grows exponentially due to ample resources. With time, resource scarcity slows the growth, until it levels off as the population reaches the environment's carrying capacity, symbolized as K.
At this point, the population growth rate stabilizes and maintains a size around the carrying capacity, sometimes fluctuating slightly above or below it. Hence, logistic growth is a more realistic model of population growth than exponential growth, especially in environments where resources are not unlimited.