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Animal Behavior Restriction on Carrying Capacity

In an ecological sense, carrying capacity refers to the maximum population of a given species set by environmental restrictions like food and habitat variables. For example, a given mountain range might have the resources to support 10,000 elk; roughly speaking, that would be the range's carrying capacity for elk. While some carrying capacity factors are external to the animal, its behavior can conceivably play a role.

Opportunism
- Food resources are a major variable in ecological carrying capacity.
  
  An animal able to adjust its food requirements could conceivably raise its carrying capacity limits by exploiting different resources. Previously limited by the availability of one food source, the opportunistic species adjusting its diet could sidestep that restriction.
Example
- By accommodating human-derived foods and habitats into their lifestyle, opportunistic coyotes thrive even near cities.
  
  Conversion of wild landscapes to human-dominated sprawl results in the decline of species unable to cope with the dramatic loss of resources and habitat. But certain animals, like raccoons and coyotes, have been able to thrive in such conditions, partly by accommodating human food sources like garbage into their diets.
Social Carrying Capacity
- Large carnivores like lions often find their carrying capacity restricted by human behavior and values.
  
  Humans can limit a species' carrying capacity, essentially acting as another environmental factor. For example, humans don't always tolerate large predators in their midst, decreasing their numbers or eliminating them entirely regardless of a habitat's carrying capacity.

Animals & Science