biotic potential

noun

the capacity of a population of organisms to increase in numbers under optimum environmental conditions.

Origin of biotic potential

First recorded in 1930–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

biotic potential in Science

The maximum capacity of an individual or population to reproduce under optimal environmental conditions. Populations rarely reproduce at their biotic potential because of limiting factors such as disease, predation, and restricted food resources.