Birth rates near carrying capacity tend to:

• A. Birth rates increase when resources become limiting.
• B. Birth rates and death rates both rise equally.
• C. Birth rates remain constant while resources limit growth.
• D. Birth rates tend to be lower than death rates as resources become limiting.

Answer: (D)

When a population is near carrying capacity, resources are scarce relative to the number of individuals, so the pressure from crowding tends to slow reproduction and can raise mortality. This means the birth rate falls below the death rate as resources become limiting, causing growth to slow or the population to stabilize around that carrying capacity. Births increasing with limiting resources would be counterintuitive, and both birth and death rates rising together or births staying constant don’t reflect how scarcity typically suppresses reproduction.