carrying capacity

carrying capacity

an estimate of the number of people that a region, a nation, or the planet can sustain.

car·ry·ing ca·pac·i·ty

(kar'ē-ing kă-pas'i-tē)

An estimate of the number of people that a region, a nation, or the planet can sustain.

carrying capacity

the capacity of a particular habitat with reference to the maximum number of organisms which that habitat can normally support, e.g. the maximum number of wading birds an estuary can support.