Final answer:
Exponential growth occurs in populations with unlimited resources, showing a dramatic, unchecked increase over time. Logistic growth accounts for limited resources and the carrying capacity of the environment, showing growth stabilizing as it reaches a certain level.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary difference between exponential growth and logistic growth lies in the availability of resources and the rate at which a population grows.
Exponential growth describes a situation where there are unlimited resources, leading to a population increase that becomes more rapid over time. This forms a J-shaped curve where the population size grows dramatically without any apparent limit.
Logistic growth, on the other hand, incorporates the concept of carrying capacity, which is the maximum population size an environment can sustain indefinitely.
This leads to an S-shaped curve where the growth of the population slows down as it approaches the carrying capacity due to factors such as limited resources or competition.
When considering human populations, growth has historically followed an exponential pattern, especially with advancements in technology and medicine.
However, it's becoming evident that logistic growth models may be a more realistic representation given the limitation of resources and environmental constraints.
The human population cannot grow indefinitely due to such limitations, and might plateau or even decline as carrying capacity is reached or exceeded