Q.

1
Populations tend to get larger until there is no longer enough food or space to support so many
individuals. This type of growth is called logistic population growth, and you can learn more
about it in this lesson.

Definition
A group of individuals of the same species living in the same area is called a population. The measurement of how
the size of a population changes over time is called the population growth rate, and it depends upon the population
size, birth rate, and death rate. As long as there are enough resources available, there will be an increase in the
number of individuals in a population over time, or a positive growth rate. However, most populations cannot continue
to grow forever because they will eventually run out of water, food, sunlight, space, or other resources. As these
resources begin to run out, the population growth will start to slow down. When the growth rate of a population
decreases as the number of individuals increases, this is called logistic population growth.

Graph

The S-shaped Curve of Logistic Growth

If we look at a graph of a population undergoing logistic population growth, it will have a characteristic S-shaped
curve. The population grows in size slowly when there are only a few individuals. Then the population grows faster
when there are more individuals. Finally, having lots of individuals in the population causes growth to slow because
resources are limited. In logistic growth, a population will continue to grow until it reachescarrying capacity, which is
the maximum number of individuals the environment can support.

Equation
We can also look at logistic growth as a mathematical equation. Population growth rate is measured in number of
individuals in a population (N) over time (t). The term for population growth rate is written as (dN/dt). The d just
means change. K represents the carrying capacity and r is the maximum per capita growth rate for a population. Per
capita means per individual, and the per capita growth rate involves the number of births and deaths in a population.
The logistic growth equation assumes that K and r do not change over time in a population.

The Logistic Growth Equation

Let's see what happens to the population growth rate as N changes from being smaller than K, close or equal to K,
and larger than K. We will use a simple example where r=0.5 and K=100.

Population Size Smaller than Carrying Capacity

If N is very small compared to K, then the population growth rate will be a small positive number. This means the
population is slowly getting larger because there are a few more births than deaths. For example if N=2, the
population growth rate is 0.98. (Remember the units are individuals per time. We didn't specify time in this example
because it depends upon the species, but it is often measured in years or generation times.)

The Logistic Growth Equation when N=2, r=0.5, and K=100

For a while as N increases, so does the growth rate of the population. If N=50, then the growth rate has increased to
12.5. This means the population is rapidly getting larger. However, remember in logistic growth the population does
not continue to grow forever.

The Logistic Growth Equation when N=50, r=0.5, and K=100

Q.2