1.3 variation in population size

Question	Answer
what are the stages of the pattern of growth for a natural population?	1) slow growth, small number of individuals reproduce 2) rapid growth with continued reproduction. doubles during each interval of time. 3) declines till stable, due to food supply or increased predation. cyclic.
what are the two basic limiting factors of a population?	abiotic factors - non living biotic factors - living
what are the abiotic limiting factors?	- temperature - light - pH - water and humidity
how can temperature be a limiting factor?	- too hot = denature enzymes - too cold = reduced activity - too far from optimum in warm blooded, energy is used to maintain normal temp, less growth and survival
how can light be a limiting factor?	affects rate of photosynthesis, greater = better growth, in turn, population feeding off plants potentially larger.
how can pH be a limiting factor?	affects enzyme action. if strays from optimum, population decreases.
how is water and humidity a limiting factor?	where there is little water, populations are small and well adapted. humidity affects transpiration in plants and evaporation of water from animals. in dry, animals must be adapted.

Resource summary

	Created by Charlotte Hewson about 8 years ago