Ecosystems

Limiting
Factors
 Let’s suppose….
 We have two mice…:

and they
produce the
standard 56
“pups” (baby
mice) each
year.

and each of
these mice goes
on to have 56
babies each
year….
 Soon…..
 We’d be over-run with mice on the planet!!

Why doesn’t this occur?

 Limiting Factors

 A limiting factor
is an abiotic or
biotic factor that
restricts the
number of
individuals in a
population.
 Limiting Factors

 Limiting factors can

include:
1. Competitors
 Limiting Factors

 Limiting factors can

include:
1. Competitors
2. Disease and
parasites
 Limiting Factors

 Limiting factors can

include:
1. Competitors
2. Disease and
parasites
3. Weather
 Limiting Factors

 Limiting factors can

include:
1. Competitors
2. Disease and
parasites
3. Weather
4. Fires
 Limiting Factors

 Limiting factors can

include:
1. Competitors
2. Disease and
parasites
3. Weather
4. Fires
5. Available habitat
 Limiting Factors

 Limiting factors can

include:
1. Competitors
2. Disease and parasites
3. Weather
4. Fires
5. Available habitat
6. Predators
 Competitors-organisms both
cooperate and compete

•Birds of prey
•Livein forests on
the edge of fields
•Eatmice and
other rodents
•Nest in trees

Red-Tailed Hawk Barred Owl

 Disease and Parasites

 Diseases and
parasites can
be dependent
on population
size and
habitat
 Weather
Storms
Drought
Flooding
Heat/cold
 Fires

 Fires lead to
succession which
is a predictable
change in the
community over
time.
 Available Habitat
 Human activities
play a large role
 Development,
damming rivers,
clear cutting
forests.
 Predators
 Predator-prey
relationship can
be a delicate
balance
between the two
populations.
 Predators
 As the prey
population increases,
the predator
population increases.
As the prey
population
decreases, then so
does the predator
population.
Example: Lynx and Hare:
 Ecotype

 In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype, sometimes called

ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic
variety, population or race within a species, which is
adapted to specific environmental conditions. Typically,
ecotypes exhibit phenotypic differences (such as in
morphology or physiology) stemming from
environmental heterogeneity and are capable of
interbreeding with other geographically adjacent
ecotypes without loss of fertility or vigor.
 Four different ecotypes of Physcomitrella patens, stored at the International Moss Stock
Center
 Example

 Earthworms fall into four different ecotypes. Compost

earthworm prefer warm and moist environments with a
ready supply of fresh compost material. Epigeic
earthworms live on the surface of the soil in leaf litter and
tend not to make burrows but live in and feed on the leaf
litter. Endogeic earthworms live in and feed on the soil,
making horizontal burrows through the soil to move around
and to feed and they will reuse these burrows to a certain
extent. Anecic earthworms make permanent vertical
burrows in soil, feeding on leaves on the soil surface that
they drag into their burrows.