CARRYING CAPACITY

Represents the point of balance between reproduction potential and environmental resistance, that is the maximum population of a species that a specific ecosystem can support indefinitely without deterioration of the character and quality of the resource. The level of use, at a given level of management, which a natural or man-made resource can sustain itself over long period of time. For example, the maximum level of recreational use, in terms of numbers of people and types of activity, that can be accommodated before the ecological value of the area declines. Scialabba (1998)