Geometric growth cannot be sustained for long in natural condition. Limited nutrient availability slows down the growth. It leads to a stationary phase or even a decline. Plotting the growth against time, gives a typical sigmoid or S-curve. Sigmoid curve of growth is typical of most organisms in their natural environment including plants. The exponential growth can be expressed as: W1= W0ert; where W0=initial size at the beginning of the period W0=initial size at the beginning of the period r=growth rate t=time of growth e=base of natural logarithms As idealised sigmoid growth curve is drawn below: