Carrying capacity is a key concept in ecology. A body of theory, based on the logistic equation, has extended predictions of carrying capacity to spatially distributed, dispersing populations. However, this theory has only recently been tested empirically. The experimental results disagree with some theoretical predictions of when they are extended to a population dispersing randomly in a two-patch system. However, they are consistent with a mechanistic model of consumption on an exploitable resource (consumer?resource model). We argue that carrying capacity, defined as the total equilibrium population, is not a fundamental property of ecological systems, at least in the context of spatial heterogeneity. Instead, it is an emergent property that depends on the population?s intrinsic growth and dispersal rates.
%0 Journal Article
%1 zhang2021carrying
%A Zhang, Bo
%A DeAngelis, Donald L.
%A Ni, Wei-Ming
%B Trends in Ecology & Evolution
%D 2021
%I Elsevier
%J Trends in Ecology & Evolution
%K carrying_capacity logistic_density_dependence review
%N 2
%P 164--173
%R 10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.007
%T Carrying Capacity of Spatially Distributed Metapopulations
%U https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.007
%V 36
%X Carrying capacity is a key concept in ecology. A body of theory, based on the logistic equation, has extended predictions of carrying capacity to spatially distributed, dispersing populations. However, this theory has only recently been tested empirically. The experimental results disagree with some theoretical predictions of when they are extended to a population dispersing randomly in a two-patch system. However, they are consistent with a mechanistic model of consumption on an exploitable resource (consumer?resource model). We argue that carrying capacity, defined as the total equilibrium population, is not a fundamental property of ecological systems, at least in the context of spatial heterogeneity. Instead, it is an emergent property that depends on the population?s intrinsic growth and dispersal rates.
@article{zhang2021carrying,
abstract = {Carrying capacity is a key concept in ecology. A body of theory, based on the logistic equation, has extended predictions of carrying capacity to spatially distributed, dispersing populations. However, this theory has only recently been tested empirically. The experimental results disagree with some theoretical predictions of when they are extended to a population dispersing randomly in a two-patch system. However, they are consistent with a mechanistic model of consumption on an exploitable resource (consumer?resource model). We argue that carrying capacity, defined as the total equilibrium population, is not a fundamental property of ecological systems, at least in the context of spatial heterogeneity. Instead, it is an emergent property that depends on the population?s intrinsic growth and dispersal rates.},
added-at = {2023-12-31T00:17:40.000+0100},
author = {Zhang, Bo and DeAngelis, Donald L. and Ni, Wei-Ming},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/29506cac9bdc71e2986c178af0e29b089/peter.ralph},
booktitle = {Trends in Ecology & Evolution},
comment = {doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.007},
doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.007},
interhash = {22fb5308a67604bc201834284eabd4c8},
intrahash = {9506cac9bdc71e2986c178af0e29b089},
issn = {01695347},
journal = {Trends in Ecology & Evolution},
keywords = {carrying_capacity logistic_density_dependence review},
month = feb,
number = 2,
pages = {164--173},
publisher = {Elsevier},
timestamp = {2023-12-31T00:17:40.000+0100},
title = {Carrying Capacity of Spatially Distributed Metapopulations},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.007},
volume = 36,
year = 2021
}