Factors which limit population growth

If any of the limiting factors change, animal and plant populations change, too. Some changes may cause a population to increase. If there are more plants than usual in an area, populations of animals that eat that plant may increase. If one animal's population increases, the population of animals that eats that animal might also increase. Increases in population aren't always good. Sometimes a population will grow too large for the environment to support. Populations of lionfish, and other species with logistic growth, are limited by negative density-dependent factors.

Read about four negative density-dependent factors to learn how they limit population growth. Intraspecific competition is competition between individuals of the same species for food, space, and other resources.

As the population grows and consumes more resources, individuals must compete for the remaining, limited resources. This reduces the survival, development, and reproduction of some individuals — which ultimately reduces population growth.

Interspecific predation is when individuals in a population are killed and eaten by predators of a different species. Also as food becomes scarcer, birth rates decrease due to fewer available resources for the mother meaning that the birth rate decreases as population size increases.

For density-dependent factors, there is a feedback loop between population density and the density-dependent factor. First one is showing results from a study focusing on the giant intestinal roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides , a parasite that infects humans and other mammals.

Denser populations of the parasite exhibited lower fecundity number of eggs per female. One possible explanation for this is that females would be smaller in more dense populations because of limited resources and smaller females produce fewer eggs.

Density-independent birth rates and death rates do NOT depend on population size; these factors are independent of, or not influenced by, population density. Many factors influence population size regardless of the population density, including weather extremes, natural disasters earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, etc. Journal of Great Lakes Research 19, — McGucken, W. Rohr, J. Lethal and sublethal effects of atrazine, carbaryl, endosulfan, and octylphenol on the streamside salamander Ambystoma barbouri.

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 22, — Schindler, D. Eutrophication and recovery in experimental lakes: implications for lake management. Sibley, R. Population growth rate and its determinants: an overview. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B , — Turner, R. Wetland Sedimentation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Wauters, L. Effects of food availability and density on red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris reproduction. Ecology 76, — Aging and Its Demographic Measurement.

Allee Effects. An Introduction to Population Growth. Density and Dispersion. Introduction to Population Demographics. Population Dynamics of Mutualism. Population Ecology Introduction. Population Limiting Factors. The Breeder's Equation. Global Atmospheric Change and Animal Populations. Semelparity and Iteroparity. Causes and Consequences of Dispersal in Plants and Animals. Disease Ecology. Survivorship Curves. The Population Dynamics of Vector-borne Diseases.

Population Limiting Factors By: W. Citation: Edwards, W. Nature Education Knowledge 3 10 Aa Aa Aa. Introduction to Population Growth Limitation.

Populations Cannot Grow Without Limit. Density Dependant Limitation. Density Independent Limitation. A Phosphorus load decreased toward the target annual load 11 ktonnes. References and Recommended Reading Blaustein, A. Share Cancel. Revoke Cancel.