General Principle of Population Growth

• It is often defined by demographers according to the specific needs of the research and researcher. (Population)
• Biotic Potential - Refers to the ability of a population of living species to increase under ideal environmental conditions – sufficient food supply, no predators, and a lack of disease.
• Many large mammals, like humans or elephants, will only produce one offspring per year and some small organisms, like insects, will produce thousands of offspring per year.
• It only lays a single egg every two years. They wait for their offspring to make it on their own (usually within two years) before producing another offspring. They can live up to 40+ years in captivity but probably much less in the wild. - Philippine Eagle
• Twospotted spider mite females can lay up to 84 eggs during their life cycle.
• Environmental Resistence - Refers to the sum of the environmental factors (such as drought, mineral deficiencies, and competition) that tend to restrict the biotic potential of an organism or kind of organism and impose a limit on numerical increase.
• Carrying Capacity - Refers to the maximum number of a given species that can be sustained by resources in a given environment.
• When a population is nearing its carrying capacity, the amount of resources used is equal to the amount of resources being produced.