DON GERARDO LL.

OUANO MEMORIAL NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Earth and Life Science Worksheet

Biotic Potential and Environmental Resistance

Learning Competency: Categorize the different biotic potential and environmental resistance (eg., diseases, availability of food,
and predators) that affect population explosion.

Learning Objectives:
 Define what is biotic potential and environmental resistance;
 Categorize the different biotic potential and environmental resistance that affect population explosion in a
specific area;
 Value the importance of these factors to the population growth.

Materials: Worksheet, pen

I. Population Statistics

Directions: Analyze the graph below and answer the question.

1. The image above is a population graph from the predator-prey game. Green indicates grass, blue indicates
rabbits, and red indicates wolves. In this graph, what factor is controlling the population of rabbits? Check
the box of your best answer.
Availability of food competition of other herbivores
Presence of predator and the availability of food the presence of predators

2. What can you infer based on your answer? (Check the appropriate box/boxes) Possible answer: 2
The availability of food is an important factor in the population of rabbits.
When the population of rabbit increase, food becomes less and vice versa
Food is a density-dependent factor
Rabbits can live without food

II. Answer the following questions:

1. Why do organisms compete?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Does competition occur between organisms of the same species, or between members of different species?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Based on the activity, POPULATION STATISTICS, what could be the reason/s in the fluctuation of the rabbit’s
population?
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Biotic Potential
The ability of a population of a particular species to propagate under ideal environmental conditions — sufficient food
supply, no diseases, and no predators, is called biotic potential. There are primary factors that determine biotic potential: an
organism's rate of reproduction and its litter size — the number of offspring produced at one birth.

The biotic potential among organisms varies from species to species. Similar to humans, many large mammals produce one offspring
per year or breeding season. On the other hand, insects produce thousands of offspring per year. Therefore, large organisms have
relatively lower biotic potential than smaller organisms.
Examples: On the average, spiders are capable of producing hundreds of offspring at a time, cats and dogs can produce four to
eight offspring at a time, and humans can only produce one to three offspring at a time. The different biotic potentials of organisms
can be attributed to several factors such as survival rate of their offspring, frequency of reproduction, and reproductive lifespan.

Environmental Resistance and Carrying Capacity

The factors that limit the biotic potential of an organism are called environmental resistance. These factors include abiotic
and biotic factors that limit the organism from endlessly increasing its population.
Biotic factors include predation, competition, parasitism, and diseases. Abiotic factors include climatic conditions, fire, and
temperature.

Examples of Environmental Resistance

Some of the common examples of environmental resistance include the availability of water and predator-prey relationship.

 Water is an important resource that producers need for growth. If the producers do not grow in an ecosystem, then the
consumers in such ecosystem cannot be sustained.

 Dynamics of predator-prey populations contribute to environmental resistance. For instance, if the predator population is
low, we can expect that the prey’s population is high.

Biotic potential and environmental resistance affect the carrying capacity, which is defined as the maximum population of a species
an ecosystem can sustain indefinitely without being degraded due to deterioration and damage.

ASSESSMENT

Directions: Multiple choice. Read and analyze the following questions below and write the
letter of your best answer.

1. Which of the following statements about biotic potential is TRUE?

a. varies a great deal by species. c. high with large mammal

b. only reached when food is limited. d. tends to be low with insects

2. Which of the following is a density-dependent factor?

a. fire b. typhoons c. flashfloods d. predation
3. The image below is a population graph from the predator-prey game. Green
indicates grass, blue indicates rabbits, and red indicates wolves. The rapid growth
in grass shown at the right of the graph is probably due to:

a. rabbits becoming extinct c. wolves becoming extinct

b. rabbits going on diets d. wolves controlling the rabbit population

4.Which of the following organisms will have the highest biotic potential assuming that
they are all found in the same environment?
a. hyenas b. moths c. lions d. elephants

5. If a population for a certain organism is above the carrying capacity of an ecosystem,

which of the following is a plausible outcome?

a. the population will continue to grow because they will start migrating to other ecosystems.
b. the population will decline, as there is a limited number of resources in the ecosystem.
c. the population will decline because there will be an increase in predators.
d. the population will continue to grow until biotic potential is reached
 DON GERARDO LL. OUANO MEMORIAL NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Prepared by: Checked by:

JOFEL C. CANADA DENNIS J. MANATAD
SST1 Master Teacher I