overpopulate
Breed beyond limits
To overpopulate is to fill an area with more inhabitants than it can sustainably support.
The term usually applies to biological populations—humans, animals, or plants—exceeding the carrying capacity of their environment: Deer have overpopulated the region since wolves were eliminated.
Overpopulated areas strain resources like food, water, and space.
Filled beyond capacity
- teemingAbundantly full of
- swarmingGathering in large numbers
- congestedBlocked by overcrowding
- packedFilled to capacity
dense · cramped · overflowing · bursting · strain · saturated · exceed · capacity
Extend in disorderly fashion
- megacityUrban area exceeding ten million
- metropolisLarge important city
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
- high-riseMultistory tall building
infrastructure · congestion · expansion · development · housing · zoning · slums · overcrowding
Population an environment sustains
- resourcesAvailable assets or supplies
- depletionReduction of supply
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- habitatOrganism's natural environment
degradation · sustainability · biodiversity · ecosystem · species · conservation · environment · footprint
Capacity for reproduction
- birth rateLive deliveries per thousand
- censusOfficial population count
- migrationMovement to new territory
- mortalityState of eventual death
exponential · boom · explosion · Malthus · reproduction · demographics · projections · decline
overcrowded
Filled beyond capacity
packed · dense · cramped · overflowing · bursting · strain · saturated · exceed · capacity · swamped
sprawl
Extend in disorderly fashion
- megacityUrban area exceeding ten million
- metropolisLarge important city
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
high-rise · infrastructure · congestion · expansion · development · housing · zoning · slums · overcrowding · migration
carrying capacity
Population an environment sustains
- resourcesAvailable assets or supplies
- depletionReduction of supply
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
habitat · degradation · sustainability · biodiversity · ecosystem · species · conservation · environment · footprint · scarcity
fertility
Capacity for reproduction
- birth rateLive deliveries per thousand
- censusOfficial population count
- migrationMovement to new territory
mortality · exponential · boom · explosion · Malthus · reproduction · demographics · projections · decline · aging
overpopulateunderpopulate
Have too few inhabitants
depopulate · empty out · thin out · abandon · desert
overpopulateunderpopulate
Have too few inhabitants
depopulate · empty · sparse · uninhabited · deserted
overpopulated, overpopulation, overpopulates, overpopulating