GENVI 8113

2ND SEM
UNIT 2: CONCEPT OF LIMITING FACTORS
Liebig’s law (law of minimum)
Shelford’s law (law of tolerance)
What is a limiting factor?
-any environmental factor that restricts the
ability of an organism or population to grow,
survive, or reproduce. Can be biotic or
abiotic
-plant growth is dictated by the least
available resource or limiting factor
-deficiency in one nutrient cannot be
compensated by a surplus of any of the
others
The barrel concept:
The shortest barrel stave prevents the barrel
from being filled with water.

Examples: -balance between nutrients is needed.

disease, predation, shelter, food, water,
nutrients, sunlight, space, competition,
natural disasters, temperature, salinity, pH
level, soil quality, time
-anything too high or too low is dangerous.
these limiting factors are part of a balanced
ecosystem. Without these factors, it can
lead to ecological imbalance.
Diurnal- active during day
Nocturnal- active during night
Banksia serrata- pyrophyte
(can tolerate fire)
Tardigrades (water bears)
can survive temperatures of up to -200 deg
c to 149 deg c
mangrove- halophytes
(can tolerate highly saline conditions)
Salt eliminated via mangrove leaves as
crystals
Dissolved oxygen for aquatic organisms:
-oxygen is used for respiration
-oxygen is needed for decomposition
-high decomposition = less dissolved oxygen
=limiting for other organisms that undergo
respiration
Hypoxia= loss of oxygen
If organisms die due to depleted oxygen,
they will decompose, adding to the oxygen
depletion made by decomposition in water.
If too much nitrate and phosphate leak into
runoff water to sea, it causes algal bloom
Algal bloom covers surface of ocean,
preventing phytoplankton to produce food
because of less sunlight, leading to reduced
oxygen production.

-if habitat of organism is seawater, higher

chance of surviving saline conditions

Liebig’s law (law of the minimum)

Discovered by Justus Von Liebig