Question

Is resource availability the onlyfactor affecting carrying capacity?A. Yes, resources are the only factor affectingcarrying capacity.B. No, changing seasons and disease also affectcarrying capacity.C. No, predation and omnivore activity affectcarrying capacity.

Answer 1

Let's first define what carrying capacity is:

Carrying capacity is the maximum amount of organisms an ecosystem can carry. It is related to our logistical growth formula:

`(dN)/(dt)=r_(max)((K-N)/(K))N`

Where K is our carrying capacity.

Carrying capacity is affected by a couple of things:

0. Resource availability,: depending on how many resources there are in an ecosystem, it can only hold so many organisms.

,

1. Space,: depending on how ,large, an ecosystem is, the denser the ecosystem (of organisms), the harder it is for the organisms to coexist. Therefore, the smaller the area, the lesser the carrying capacity.

These 2 factors (resources being biotic and space being abiotic) are the only factors few factors that affect carrying capacity.

Therefore, our best answer choice is A.