Carrying Capacity!
By: Paige Libman
Environmental Carrying Capacity!
Environmental carrying capacity is an ecological concept defines as the population of organisms that can be sustained at a steady rate in an area.
The Snow Leopard and the Bharal!
A snow leopard and bharal, aka blue sheep, are related in more ways than you think.
The image to the right is a bharal. it's hard to imaging that this sheep can affect a snow leopard.
Their Relationship!
The snow leopard preys on the bharal, being the predator. But what happens if the bharal population grows immensely? The leopard population has a feast and it's population grows as well because they have the resources to support a bigger population. This is called a surplus.
Dependence!
If the bharal population were to die out, say due to disease or over hunting, the snow leopard population would decrease. Because there are little snow leopards left, the bharal population has a chance to grow bigger again, then so does the snow leopard population.
Graph?
I couldn't find and graphs showing you the snow leopard and bharal's population change over time, but i did find a general graph of what it could have looked like.
Exam Questions!
- If the bharal's source of food were to decline, how would the snow leopards population turn out?
- What would happen if the snow leopard species became extinct?
- If a new predator were placed into this habitat, how would that affect the carrying capacity of the ecosystem?
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