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This recognition that there is always a single limiting factor is vital in ecology, and the concept has parallels in numerous other processes. The limiting factor also causes competition between individuals of a species population. For example, space is a limiting factor. Many predators and prey need a certain amount of space for survival: food ...
Liebig's law states that growth only occurs at the rate permitted by the most limiting factor. [ 2 ] For instance, in the equation below, the growth of population O {\displaystyle O} is a function of the minimum of three Michaelis-Menten terms representing limitation by factors I {\displaystyle I} , N {\displaystyle N} and P {\displaystyle P} .
The best-known example is the so-called "paradox of the plankton". [6] All plankton species live on a very limited number of resources, primarily solar energy and minerals dissolved in the water. According to the competitive exclusion principle, only a small number of plankton species should be able to coexist on these resources.
A low level of one factor can sometimes be partially compensated for by appropriate levels of other factors. In case of chemical reactions it is known as law of limiting factor. A corollary to this is that two factors may work synergistically (e.g. 1 + 1 = 5), to make a habitat favorable or unfavorable. Geographic distribution of sugar maple.
Whether above-ground or below-ground resources are more limiting can have major effects on the structure and diversity of ecological communities; in mixed beech stands, for example, size-asymmetric competition for light is a stronger predictor of growth compared with competition for soil resources. [24]
Bateman's paradigm thus views females as the limiting factor of parental investment, over which males will compete in order to copulate successfully. Although Bateman's principle served as a cornerstone for the study of sexual selection for many decades, it has recently been subject to criticism. Attempts to reproduce Bateman's experiments in ...
In most cases combinations of factors are responsible for limiting the geographic range edge of species. Abiotic and biotic factors may work together in determining the range of a species. An example might be some obligate seeder plants where the distribution is limited by the presence of wildfires, which are needed to allow their seed bank to ...
The factors range from 0 for no growth to 1 for maximum growth. Actual growth is calculated by the total multiplication of each growth factor. For example, if three factors had a value of 0.5, the actual growth would be: 0.5 × 0.5 × 0.5 = 0.125, which is 12.5% of optimum. If each of the three factors had a value of 0.9 the actual growth would be: