Final answer:
The term biotic potential refers to the maximum rate at which a population can grow under ideal conditions. Carrying capacity is the maximum population size an environment can sustain, and it leads to logistic growth. Exponential growth happens when resources are abundant, but it cannot continue indefinitely as it approaches the carrying capacity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The maximum rate of increase of the size of a population under ideal conditions is described as biotic potential. This represents the maximal growth rate for a species when there are no limiting factors affecting its growth, allowing the population to increase at its fastest possible rate.
The term carrying capacity, on the other hand, refers to the maximum population size that an environment can sustain due to limiting factors like food, space, and other resources. When the population size approaches this limit, the growth rate slows down and the population growth exhibits a logistic, or S-shaped, growth curve.
The carrying capacity is an equilibrium state where the population size oscillates around a certain number that the environment's resources can support without being depleted.
Exponential growth, depicted in curve A in certain figures, occurs in conditions where resources are abundant and the population grows without constraints, drastically increasing in size until resources become sparse and carrying capacity is approached.