Carrying capacity environment limit – UGC NET Question

Carrying capacity refers to the largest population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely given the available resources and technology. If this limit is exceeded,resources are depleted and environmental degradation occurs. The stem clearly mentions a maximum sustainable population without degrading resources,which is precisely the idea of carrying capacity. Therefore this option correctly completes the statement.

Option A:
Carrying capacity is widely used in ecology and human ecology to discuss limits to growth. It reminds planners that development must respect environmental constraints. This matches the emphasis on sustainability in the question.

Option B:
Demographic bonus refers to potential economic gains from a favourable age structure and has nothing to do with physical resource limits. It does not answer what the maximum sustainable population is.

Option C:
Population pyramid is a graphical representation of age and sex composition. It shows structure,not the maximum population an environment can support,so it is not appropriate here.

Option D:
Dependency ratio compares dependants with working age people. It is an economic-demographic indicator rather than a measure of environmental limits.