Final answer:
Most natural populations follow logistic growth, which considers environmental constraints and levels off as the population size reaches the environment's carrying capacity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The type of population growth that most natural populations follow is known as logistic growth. Unlike exponential growth, which happens under ideal conditions with unlimited resources and results in a rapid increase in population size, logistic growth accounts for environmental constraints and the presence of density-dependent factors. These factors restrict growth as a population nears its carrying capacity, leading to a leveling off in the size of the population. This pattern of growth is represented by a sigmoid, or 'S-shaped', curve on a graph with time on the x-axis and population size on the y-axis, where the flattening line represents the carrying capacity of the environment.
Most populations do not have the luxury of growing exponentially for long periods due to limited resources such as food, water, space, and other environmental factors. Consequently, their growth tends to follow the more realistic logistic pattern, where the population size stabilizes when the carrying capacity is reached.