Too much or too little of a physical or a chemical factor can limit or prevent the

growth of a population in a particular place (limiting factor principle)

Limiting Factor Defined

Do you like to cook? Well, cooking is a lot like chemistry! To cook, we often follow a detailed
recipe (experimental procedure) that brings together two or more ingredients (reactants) to
make something new (final product).

Let's say you want to make grilled cheese sandwiches, for instance. The recipe you have calls
for one slice of cheese and two slices of bread to make one complete sandwich. In the
refrigerator you find you have six slices of bread and six slices of cheese. If you tried to make
lunch with that ratio of ingredients, you would only be able to make three sandwiches before
running out of bread. In this case, bread slices are the limiting factor of your reaction.

A limiting factor, also known as a limiting reactant or limiting reagent, is the reactant that is
used up first in a reaction and therefore limits the amount of product that can be formed.

A Molecular Representation of the Limiting Factor

For a deeper understanding of the limiting factor, we can study a molecular representation of
the reaction between oxygen gas (Osub2) and hydrogen gas (Hsub2) to yield water (Hsub2O),
shown below in Figure 1. In this particular reaction set up, we see that there are a total of
twelve hydrogen atoms and eight oxygen atoms on the reactant's side (left side). In the figure,
these hydrogen atoms are depicted as small, grey spheres and the oxygen atoms are the larger,
pink spheres.

While it's true that there are fewer oxygen atoms present in the reaction, oxygen is NOT the
limiting factor here. Remember, the limiting factor is the reactant that is used up first, not
necessarily the reactant present in the smallest amount. To form water (Hsub2O) in this
reaction, two hydrogen atoms are consumed for every one oxygen atom. This 2:1 ratio means
that all of our hydrogen atoms will be used up in the reaction process and two oxygen atoms
will be left over, as shown on the product's side of Figure 1. Thus, hydrogen gas (Hsub2) is the
limiting factor of this reaction set up.
Applications of the Limiting Factor
The limiting factor plays a critical role in chemical experimentation and reaction planning. If we
know the amounts of reactants present, we can use simple calculations based on the relative
number of moles or molecules to determine which reactant is limiting. Once we identify the
limiting factor, we can use the balanced chemical equation to find its molar ratio to the product
and predict exactly how much of our product can be formed, the same way we predicted how
many sandwiches could be made from six slices of cheese and six slices of bread. The process
of using molar ratios to predict the amount of product formed by a reaction is called
stoichiometry.

A factor present in an environment that controls a process, particularly the growth, abundance or distribution of

a population of organisms in an ecosystem.

Supplement

The concept is based upon the Law of the Minimum, which states that the functioning of an organism is controlled or

limited by that essential environmental factor or combination of factors present in the least favorable amount that may

not be continuously existing but only at some critical period of time.

The availability of food, water, nutrients, shelter, and predation pressure are examples of factors limiting the growth of

a population size.

The principle that the factor (such as a particular nutrient, water, or sunlight) that is in shortest supply (the limiting
factor) will limit the growth and development of an organism or a community.

Principle of Limiting Factors

The plants and animals that succeed in occupying a particular niche are those that can
easily adapt to the unique environmental conditions of a site. Each plant and animal in the
community has a specific range of tolerance for particular environmental conditions. Climate
factors are the most important influence over the successful establishment of plant and
animal communities. Two climatic factors are important, sunlight and moisture.

Not only is the amount of sunlight available important but the duration and quality of light
are important too. For instance, at high altitudes the intense ultra violet light may inhibit the
growth of particular plants. The intensity of light affects photosynthesis and rate of primary
productivity. The duration of sunlight affects the flowering of plants and the activity patterns
of animals. The availability of water is important for the survival of most life forms. But
plants require water for a number of life processes like germination, growth and
reproduction too. The principle of limiting factors says that the maximum obtainable rate
of photosynthesis is limited by whichever basic resource of plant growth is in least supply.
The availability of energy and moisture varies geographically. At high latitudes the limiting
factor is generally energy availability while in low latitudes moisture is the limiting factor to
growth. The diagram below shows the relationship between potential evapotranspiration, a
moisture index, climate and vegetation.
Figure 12. 3 Relationship between climate, vegetation potential
evapotranspiration and the
moisture index.

The figure on the left shows the

relationship between potential
evapotranspiration (PE), a
moisture index (MI), climate and
vegetation. Potential
evapotranspiration is the optimal
amount of water entering the
atmosphere as a result of
evaporation and plant
transpiration when there is an
unlimited amount of moisture.
Because evaporation and
transpiration depend on energy
availability, potential
evapotranspiration is a measure of
energy input. High values of
potential evapotranspiration relate to warm climates while low values to cool climates. The
moisture index is a measure of moisture availability. High values of the moisture index
means that plenty of water is available. Combining the two variables, potential
evapotranspiration and moisture index we have a notion of what the climate is like in any
part of the diagrams. For instance, high PE and large values of MI are indicative of warm
and moist climates. Note that tundra and taiga (mostly conifers) are successfully established
over a wide range of moisture conditions, from dry to moist, but always in cool
environments. Other vegetation systems have more narrowly defined moisture and
temperature requirements.

Plants of a particular region have adapted to the temperature and moisture conditions in
which they live. Most gardeners are familiar with plant hardiness (growing) zone maps. The
zones are based on the minimum temperature experienced and thus tolerated by different
species of plants. There have been recent signs that these zones are starting to shift due to
global warming.