This kind of growth is often observed in bacterial population some bacteria devide once in 22-30 minutes under optimal conditions (2, 4, 8, 16, every 20 minutes.)
Exponential growth is a pattern of growth in which the population density after the initial establish ment phase ( lag phase) increases rapidly in an exponential or logarithmic form, but then stops abruptly as environmental resistance (e.g. seasonality) or some other factor suddenly becomes effective. This type of population growth is termed ‘density-independent’ as the regulation of growth rate is not tied to the population density until the final crash; Population numbers typically show great fluctuation as seen in algal blooms resulting in a J-shaped growth curve when population size is plotted over time.
The equation for exponential population growth is dN/dt = rN dN/dt = rN (with a definite limit on N)
The intrinsic growth rate (r) is the difference between the birth rates (b) and death rates (d) percapita (r = b – d).
Where
N =is the number of individuals in the population,
t = time,
r = is a constant representing the intrinsic rate of increase (biotic potential) of the organism.
