EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -These density-independent factors include food or nutrient limitation, pollutants in the environment, and climate extremes, including seasonal cycles such as monsoons. In addition, catastrophic factors can also impact population growth, such as fires and hurricanes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Density-independent limiting factors affect all populations in similar ways, regardless of population size and density. Unusual weather such as hurricanes, droughts, or floods, and natural disasters such as wildfires, can act as density-independent limiting factors.

Detailed explanation-3: -Wildfire is abiotic (nonliving), and most density-independent limiting factors fall in this category. Other density-independent factors include hurricanes, pollutants, and seasonal climate extremes. Density-dependent limiting factors tend to be biotic-having to do with living organisms.

Detailed explanation-4: -Density-independent factors affect per capita growth rate independent of population density. Examples include natural disasters like forest fires. Limiting factors of different kinds can interact in complex ways to produce various patterns of population growth.

Detailed explanation-5: -The correct answer is (D) Severe weather patterns. Density-independent population growth factors are not affected by the population density.