MOUNT CARMEL COLLEGE OF TEACHER

EDUCATION FOR WOMEN

EDU: 106.14
ENVIRONMENAL EDUCATION

TOPIC: 2.3
CARRYING CAPACITY AND ECOLOGICAL BALANCE

Roshni Joyson
 CARRYING CAPACITY
and
ECOLOGICAL BALANCE
 INTRODUCTION
 The carrying capacity and ecological balance is of vital
importance for the stable functioning of an ecosystem

 Carrying capacity is defined as the maximum persistently

supportable load of a focal population in a bounded
environment

 Ecological balance is a term describing how ecosystems

are organized in a state of stability where species coexist
with other species and with their environment
 By examining carefully the requirements of a given species and the

resources available, it might be possible to estimate the carrying

capacity of that environment for the species

 For humans carrying capacity is much more complicated, while human

beings play a key role to maintain ecological balance as they have the

highest thinking capacity as compared to other living organisms.

 This balance is very important because it ensures survival, existence

and stability of the environment

 CARRYING CAPACITY
 The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the
maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain
indefinitely, given the food, habitat, water and the other necessities available
in the environment

 As population density increases, birth rate often increases and death rate
typically decreases

 The difference between the birth rate and the death rate is the “natural
increase”

 The carrying capacity is the number of individuals an environment (with all

the limiting factors) can support without significant negative impacts to the
given organism and its environment
 Sometimes population size decrease above carrying capacity due

to a range of factors depending on the species concerned but

there may be insufficient space, food supply or sunlight

 The carrying capacity of an environment may vary for different

species and may change over time due to a variety of limiting

factors including: food availability, water supply, environmental

conditions and living space

 The origin of carrying capacity
 From the industrial revolution in the latter half of 18th century, the
natural civilization of human beings is developed highly in the
process of exploiting and making use of natural resources

 Along with the achievements brought by the industrial civilization,

a series of problems came up

 pollution of air and water, soil loss, desertification becoming

larger, climate changing abnormally, biological species decreasing
quickly, the shortage or exhaustion of resources, the destruction of
ozone layer, population increase etc were the problems

 In 1912, the concept came into form

 Park and burgers proposed the concept of carrying capacity
 They held the opinion that the carrying capacity of population
in one region can be determined according to several factors
 The evolvement and development of the concept of carrying
capacity can be traced differently through the ages
Methods to evaluate ecological carrying capacity
 The methods include the natural vegetation NPP method, the
balance law of supply and demand, the state space method, the
ecological footprint method, comprehensive evaluation methods and
so on
 The vegetation NPP refers to the amount of organic compounds
accumulated by vegetations in one unit of time and area
 It reflects the productive capacity of vegetation community in the
natural environment
 NNP is an important index for evaluating the framework and
functional features of ecosystem and the capacity of ecosphere for
carrying human beings
 It is also an important index for estimating the supporting ability
of the earth and evaluating the continuous development of the
ecosystem in land
 Ecological balance
 Ecology is the science of the study of ecosystems
 Ecological balance has been defined as a “state of dynamic
equilibrium within a community of organisms in which genetic,
species and ecosystem diversity remain relatively stable, subject
to gradual changes through natural succession”
 the most important thing is that the natural balance in an
ecosystem is to be maintained
 This balance may be disturbed due to :
a) the introduction of new species
b) The sudden death of some species
c) Natural hazards
d) Man made causes
 The harmonious relationship reflect healthy and desirable ecological balance

 Survival of all organisms is actualized due to ecological balance

 Favourable ecosystem ensures that each organism thrive and multiply as

expected.

 Ecological imbalance leads to many problems

 There are certain causes that lead to the ecological imbalance and also the ways
by which the problems are solved in-order to have a balanced ecology

Causes of ecological imbalance

 Introduction of synthetic products

 Throwing toxic waste into the bodies of water

 Degradation of land and soil

 Deforestation

 Faulty utilization of water resources

 Consequences of ecological imbalance
 Pollution
 Degradation of natural resources
 Soil disintegration
 Deforestation
 Consumption of natural life
 Exhaustion of mineral assets
Ways to control ecological imbalance
 Manage natural resources carefully
 Control the population
 Protect the water
 Conclusion
 When the carrying capacity of an ecology is crossed, it may
lead to the imbalance in ecosystem
 The ecological balance brings the existence of the world
 The earth gets to produce enough resources for all its
species
 When the equilibrium is achieved all the organisms are
benefited from it and protects all
 The destruction of human resources by human beings leads
to the ecological imbalance
 Each and every organism together contribute to a balanced
ecosystem