carrying capacity

[kar-ee-ing kuh-pas-i-tee]

noun

Ecology.

1. the maximum, equilibrium number of organisms of a particular species that can be supported indefinitely in a given environment. K

carrying capacity

noun

1. ecology the maximum number of individuals that an area of land can support, usually determined by their food requirements

carrying capacity

1. The maximum population of a particular organism that a given environment can support without detrimental effects.

carrying capacity

1. In ecology, the number of living things that can exist for long periods in a given area without damaging the environment.

Word History and Origins

Origin of carrying capacity¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Available seat miles, an industry measure of carrying capacity, rose 0.9% in the third quarter, but passenger revenue per available seat mile was down 3.7% from last year.

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United said its carrying capacity, or the number of seats if offered, was up 7.2% for the quarter.

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It could also be that turkey populations overshot their carrying capacity in the '80s and '90s and are now declining to a “new normal,” Kaminski said.

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But it was the Sierra Club, influenced by its first executive director, David Brower, that emerged as a leading proponent of the notion that the earth had a carrying capacity — that there was an optimum number for the planet’s population to be held at.

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The population, then at around 211 million, continued to expand, and many who at first worried for the carrying capacity of the planet became preoccupied with walling off the country and keeping the global population at bay.

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