1. Introduction
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the discussion about looming limits of the Earth’s carrying capac-
ity due to population and economic growth initiated the widespread development of environmental
awareness e.g. Ehrlich, 1971; Meadows et al., 1972. Exponential growth of the human popula-
tion and economy, and some of their upper limits e.g. food availability, arable land, nonrenewable
resources
were identified.
Other unknown
upper limits causing irreversible changes in climate, or interrupting severely vital natural processes,
were alluded to or predicted. Later, this discussion also highlighted consumption patterns in industri-
alized countries and their technologies as further pressures on Earth’s carrying capacity e.g. Daily
and Ehrlich, 1992, 1996; Srivastava and Ruesink, 1998. Presently, not many people doubt the rapid
decline and deterioration of environmental re- sources e.g. freshwater, fish stocks, biodiversity,
soil, minerals, fossil resources, the overuse of ecological sinks e.g. waste assimilation in air,
water, soil; Brown, 1998, and the fact that such overuse deteriorates and destroys ecosystems and
ultimately living conditions of humans and other species. Undoubtedly, the concept of carrying
capacity has played a significant part in promo- ting public and political awareness and understand-
ing of looming and existing limits to economic activity.
However, as will be demonstrated, attempts to apply the concept of carrying capacity to socio-eco-
nomic sectors such as tourism or the management of natural sites, and to ecosystems have not been
successful. Either the results have been unreliable or the concept of carrying capacity has been
profoundly modified as in applied ecology, human ecology to make it operational.
The political importance of the concept on the one hand and discontent regarding its applications
and modifications on the other motivated this current investigation of carrying capacity. The aim
of the paper is to provide an improved understand- ing of the concept, its history, its aims, its charac-
teristics, and its flaws, and to clarify where and how it can be applied.
As Malthusian thinking is still perceptible in this concept, the study begins with an examination of
Malthus’ treatise on the development of population. This treatise had a major influence on Darwin and,
subsequently, on later biologists, as well as on the incipient science of demography. Both disciplines
— biology and demography — provide the bedrock of the concept of carrying capacity as it is applied
and used in environmental policy and discussion. However, major modifications of the biological and
demographical understanding of the concept of carrying capacity within the fields of applied ecol-
ogy and human ecology have been made. It is argued that the concept is a normative one as soon
as it is applied in fields where human activity is involved. This implies a considerable role for value
judgments and institutional settings in formulating carrying capacity and deducing policies.
2. Malthus and his influence on Darwin and on human demography
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