biotic potential

American  

noun

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

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biotic potential Scientific  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of biotic potential

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

To reach its biotic potential, all females would have to become pregnant every nine months or so during their reproductive years.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Such results reduce to gibberish Vogt's theory of "biotic potential."

From Time Magazine Archive