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

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Example: In this chemical reaction, all the hydrogen (grey) is used up, which stops more water from being made. The hydrogen is the limiting factor.

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Carrying Capacity Noun

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[kar-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's available resources.

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Example: A population's growth slows and levels off as it reaches the carrying capacity, the maximum size an environment can sustain due to limiting factors.

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Liebig's Law of the Minimum Noun

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[lee-bigz law ov thuh min-uh-muhm]

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Liebig's Law of the Minimum

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A principle stating that population growth is dictated not by total resources, but by the single scarcest resource available.

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Example: This diagram shows a barrel where each plank is a growth factor. The barrel can only hold water (representing yield) up to the shortest plank (the limiting factor).

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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 component of an environment that affects living organisms and the functioning of its ecosystem.

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Example: This diagram shows that abiotic factors are the non-living parts of an ecosystem, giving examples like sunlight, water, wind, soil, temperature, and atmosphere.

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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 or once-living component of an ecosystem that influences other organisms or the environment, including interactions between organisms.

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Example: This image shows a pond ecosystem to explain that biotic factors are the living parts, such as ducks, fish, and plants, which are all illustrated.

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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 span of abiotic conditions, such as temperature or pH, within which a particular species is able to survive.

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Example: This graph shows that a species' population is highest in its optimum range for an environmental factor, but decreases in stressed ranges and disappears in lethal ranges.

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Competition Noun

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[kom-pi-tish-uhn]

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Competition

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A biological interaction between two or more organisms that require the same limited resource, resulting in harm to both parties.

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Example: Multiple hands reaching for a single loaf of bread illustrates competition, where organisms struggle for the same limited resource, such as food.

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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, actively hunts, kills, and consumes another organism, its prey, for food.

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Example: This graph shows how predator (lynx) and prey (hare) populations limit each other over time, creating a cycle of rising and falling numbers.

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Mutualism Noun

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[myoo-choo-uh-liz-uhm]

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Mutualism

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A type of symbiotic relationship between two different species in which both individuals derive a fitness benefit from the association.

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Example: This diagram shows mutualism: ants protect aphids from harm, and in return, the aphids provide the ants with a food source called honeydew.

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Parasitism Noun

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[par-uh-si-tiz-uhm]

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Parasitism

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A symbiotic relationship where one organism, the parasite, benefits by living on or in another organism, the host, causing it harm.

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Example: This diagram shows a tick's life cycle. The tick is a parasite that must feed on the blood of hosts, like deer or humans, to survive.