Tag: Carrying capacity

Historians note that the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, beginning around 10,000 BCE, led to an exponential increase in human population. This historical trend highlights the profound question: **Why does food increase population?** The answer lies in fundamental ecological principles tied to human history and technological progress.

In ecology, a limiting factor is anything that restricts a population's size, growth, or distribution. Food would be a limiting factor when the demand for food from a population becomes greater than the available supply in its environment. This dynamic, often driven by population density, is a fundamental principle of population ecology and shapes the dynamics of virtually all species.

In many ecosystems, population growth is ultimately limited by available resources. So, what type of factor is food availability? Food availability is a classic example of a density-dependent limiting factor that is also classified as a biotic factor, profoundly influencing the carrying capacity of an environment and the population dynamics within it.