Between days 100 and 160, the daphnia population dropped below the predicted carrying capacity before rising back up to it. what is the best biological explanation for why the population stayed below the carrying capacity between days 100 and 160? what is the best biological explanation for why the population stayed below the carrying capacity between days 100 and 160? after the population overshot the carrying capacity, the debris from dying daphnia prevented the population from increasing until the debris was decomposed, which took 60 days. the predicted carrying capacity is incorrect. it really should be 120 daphnia/50 ml, where the population stabilized during those 60 days. overcrowding before day 100 caused the birth rate to decrease and the death rate to increase, and it took another 60 days for the relative rates to stabilize. daphnia decided to limit population growth until they figured out how large a population they could support in the culture, which took 60 days.