Populations & Limiting Factors

Learning Scale Level 4 – Investigate and analyze the relationships between organisms in assigned ecosystems. Level 3 – Compare and contrast the relationships between organisms. Level 2 – Describe and explain the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in transferring energy in a food web. Identify and describe limiting factors in an ecosystem and their impact on organisms. Level 1 – With help, define key terms (producer, consumer, decomposer, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, etc.)

Levels Biosphere – Earth & atmosphere where life can exist. Ecosystem – all living and nonliving things in an area. Community – all the populations of different species that live in the same area at the same time Population – members of one species in the same area at the same time.

Pg. 734 – Figure 2

Competition – demand for resources, such as food, water, shelter that are in short supply.

How does this picture show competition?

Limiting Factors Limiting Factors – anything that restricts the size of a population. Examples include: temperature, food, sunlight, disease, natural disasters, etc.

Biotic potential – the potential growth of a population if it could grow in perfect conditions with no limiting factors. Carrying Capacity – the largest number of individuals of one species that an environment can support.

Learning Scale Level 4 – Investigate and analyze the relationships between organisms in assigned ecosystems. Level 3 – Compare and contrast the relationships between organisms. Level 2 – Describe and explain the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in transferring energy in a food web. Identify and describe limiting factors in an ecosystem and their impact on organisms. Level 1 – With help, define key terms (producer, consumer, decomposer, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, etc.)