Carrying Capacity and Limiting Factors

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Limiting Factor Noun

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[lim-it-ing fak-ter]

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Limiting Factor

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A resource or environmental condition that restricts the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or a population.

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Example: This diagram shows examples of density-dependent limiting factors, which are things that limit population growth more as the population becomes denser.

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Carrying Capacity Noun

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[kair-ee-ing kuh-pas-i-tee]

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Carrying Capacity

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The maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained indefinitely by a given environment.

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Example: This diagram uses a bucket metaphor to show carrying capacity. Reproduction fills the bucket (population growth), while limiting factors like predators and habitat loss act as drains, causing excess population to 'overflow'.

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Biotic Factor Noun

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[bahy-ot-ik fak-ter]

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Biotic Factor

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A living component or factor within an ecosystem that affects other organisms or the environment.

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Example: This diagram shows that biotic factors are all the living or once-living parts of an ecosystem, including animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria, and archaea.

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Abiotic Factor Noun

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[ey-bahy-ot-ik fak-ter]

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Abiotic Factor

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A non-living chemical or physical part of the environment that affects living organisms and ecosystem functioning.

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Example: This diagram defines abiotic factors as non-living parts of an ecosystem and shows key examples like sunlight, water, soil, and temperature.

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Tolerance Range Noun

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[tol-er-uhns reynj]

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Tolerance Range

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The specific range of environmental conditions, such as temperature or pH, within which a particular species can survive.

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Example: This graph shows a species' population is largest in its 'optimum range.' In the 'zones of stress' and 'intolerance,' fewer or no organisms survive.

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Density-dependent Limiting Factor Noun

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[den-si-tee di-pen-dent lim-it-ing fak-ter]

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Density-dependent Limiting Factor

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A limiting factor whose effect on a population is determined by the total size and density of that population.

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Example: This image shows many hands (a dense population) competing for a limited resource (one loaf of bread), which limits how many can be fed.

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Density-independent Limiting Factor Noun

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[den-si-tee in-di-pen-dent lim-it-ing fak-ter]

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Density-independent Limiting Factor

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A limiting factor that affects a population's size regardless of the population's density, such as a natural disaster.

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Example: This image incorrectly shows examples of density-dependent factors, such as disease and predation, which become more severe as a population's density increases.

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Competition Noun

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[kom-pi-tish-uhn]

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Competition

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An interaction between organisms or species in which both are harmed by their shared need for a limited resource.

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Example: This image shows two types of competition for resources: intraspecific (within one species) and interspecific (between different species), which are limiting factors.

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Predation Noun

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[pri-dey-shuhn]

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Predation

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A biological interaction where one organism, the predator, hunts and kills another organism, its prey, for food.

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Example: This image shows a predator (the lion) hunting its prey (the zebra), a key interaction that limits the prey's population size.

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Exponential Growth Noun

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[ek-spoh-nen-shuhl grohth]

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Exponential Growth

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A pattern of population increase occurring in an environment with unlimited resources, represented by a J-shaped curve.

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Example: This graph shows that as time passes, the population size increases at an accelerating rate, creating a J-shaped curve characteristic of exponential growth.