# First observation of species breeding to carrying capacity **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-observation-of-species-breeding-to-carrying-capacity/762082 "2016-08-07T21:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-observation-of-species-breeding-to-carrying-capacity/762082/1 "2016-08-07T21:28:48Z")
Obviously it’s in Darwin. > [@Origin of Species](#): > > A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase. Every being, which during its natural lifetime produces several eggs or seeds, must suffer destruction during some period of its life, and during some season or occasional year, otherwise, on the principle of geometrical increase, its numbers would quickly become so inordinately great that no country could support the product… It is the doctrine of Malthus applied with manifold force to the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms… With geometric increase, plants and animals will breed to the limits of the environment’s carrying capacity. Darwin cites Malthus as inspiration for this line of thinking. But we can go back even further. Adam Smith talks about the same idea. > [@Wealth of Nations](#): > > Every species of animals naturally multiplies in proportion to the means of their subsistence, and no species can ever multiply beyond it. Again, a clear notion of the carrying capacity of the environment, and that species will multiply until they reach that limit. This is a pretty simple observation, so I imagine it could’ve turned up various places. But still, I’m wondering how far back it goes, what the earliest mention is, of the notion that species will expand their numbers until they reach their environmental limits. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-observation-of-species-breeding-to-carrying-capacity/762082/2 "2016-08-09T22:46:07Z")
No? Well, it’s a weird question. It just felt odd to me that the earliest example I could personally think of was from Adam Smith, of all people. I figured there was an early 18th century naturalist somewhere who had made the observation, or maybe someone from antiquity. But I guess even if that were true, it’d be very difficult to dig up a precise quote.