Answer: It accounts for finite, limiting resources that slow growth as the population nears carrying capacity.
- A It assumes resources remain largely unlimited at every stage of growth as commonly observed in practice
- B It accounts for finite, limiting resources that slow growth as the population nears carrying capacity
- C It predicts that populations will usually continue to grow indefinitely without bound in many documented cases
- D It applies mainly to controlled laboratory populations and rarely to wild populations according to conventional understanding
Correct answer: B. It accounts for finite, limiting resources that slow growth as the population nears carrying capacity
Explanation: The logistic model incorporates the reality that resources such as food and space are finite, causing population growth to slow as it approaches carrying capacity (K), unlike the exponential model which assumes unlimited resources.
Exponential growth produces an ever-steepening J-curve with no limit, an unrealistic long-term model; logistic growth produces an S-curve that levels off at the carrying capacity K, as growth rate (K−N)/K shrinks to zero once resources are fully used.
Concept context
How organisms interact with abiotic factors and respond to stress, plus population attributes, growth models, and interspecific interactions such as predation, competition, and mutualism.