AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The common limiting factors in an ecosystem are food, water, habitat, and mate. The availability of these factors will affect the carrying capacity of an environment. As the population increases, food demand increases as well. Since food is a limited resource, organisms will begin competing for it.

Detailed explanation-2: -Limiting factors to population growth can be biotic or abiotic. Biotic factors are living factors such as plants and animals as food sources. Abiotic factors are physical factors such as temperature and water resources. Food, water, and living space are three of the most important limiting factors to populations.

Detailed explanation-3: -Limiting factors are resources or other factors in the environment that can lower the population growth rate. Limiting factors include a low food supply and lack of space. Competition for resources like food and space cause the growth rate to stop increasing, so the population levels off.

Detailed explanation-4: -Density-dependent limiting factors cause a population’s per capita growth rate to change-typically, to drop-with increasing population density. One example is competition for limited food among members of a population. Density-independent factors affect per capita growth rate independent of population density.

Detailed explanation-5: -The density dependent limiting factor is the factor which affects the population on the basis of the density. For example, the effect of the disease will be more profound if the population is large, but in small populations few members will get infected.