Question

Many populations cycle such that periods of rapid decline follow period of rapid growth explain how such patterns occur in an environment where the carrying capacity remains constant

Answer 1

The carrying capacity of an environment refers to the maximum population size that the environment can sustain indefinitely provided that all the resources are abundant.

When a population grows in size and reaches the carrying capacity, the environment exerts selection pressure to maintain the population size near or below the carrying capacity.

Some species exhibit cyclic changes in their population sizes. This is in response to the availability of resources and competition.

For example, the grass population size rapidly increases when herbivores are limited in number. Herbivores consume grass and increase their population.

A large herbivore population can rapidly deplete grass resources. So, the herbivore population then starts declining. This cycle will continue to complement each other's abundance.

See image.