Invironment concept -LOW IN LIMITING FACTOR.pdf

Invironmet concept -low in limiting factor

1. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPT -LAWS
AND LIMITING FACTORS
By
SONAM SINGH THAKUR
M.Sc.Zoology
UMA VINDHYAVASINI SANSKAR MAHAVIDYALAYA,
LATORI(C.G.)

2. Introduction
•A limiting factor is a variable that limits the growth or distribution of a population or ecosystem.
Limiting factors can be biological or physical, and they can be identified by changes in population
growth or distribution.
•Limiting factors can include:Bioticfactors: Food, mates, and competition with other organisms for
resourcesAbioticfactors: Space, temperature, altitude, and amount of sunlight .
•Example -For example, if there aren't enough prey animals in a forest to feed a large population of
predators, then food becomes a limiting factor.

3. FIG. LIMITING FACTORS OF PLANT AND ANIMALS

4. History
•Justus Liebig in 1840 , "liebig'slow of minimum".
•Shelford "low of Tolerance" in 1913.
•Blackman in 1905 low of minimum factors & Odum, Taylor in 1934.

5. LAW’S
1.Liebig's Law of the MinimumTheconcept of limiting factors is based on Liebig's Law of the Minimum,
which states that growth is controlled by the scarcest resource, not the total amount of resources available.
2.Blackman's Law of Limiting FactorsIn1905, plant physiologist Frederick Frost Blackman proposed the
law of limiting factors, which states that the rate of a chemical process is limited by the slowest factor.
Blackman based his law on his study of photosynthesis in plants. He demonstrated that increasing only one
factor or component of photosynthesis will not increase the rate of photosynthesis. Instead, the rate of
photosynthesis can be increased by increasing other factors in the proper proportion.

6. 3. Odum-According to Liebig's principle of minimum should be
considered limited only to those chemical factors which are
essential for the functioning of living organisms. Hence,
Shelford's law of tolerance should be applied to other
environmental factors.
4. SHELFORD'S LAW OF TOLERANCE -Shelford added
some essential elements to Liebig's law in 1913. According to
him, excess of any element can also be a limiting factor for
living beings such as -temperature, light, water etc. According
to Shelford, "Excess of an essential substance can also be as
harmful as its excessive deficiency." This means that deficiency
or excess of any substance beyond certain limits proves
harmful for living beings.
According to this law, every factor has a maximum and
minimum limit for every organism. The range between these
two limits is called the range of tolerance.

7. Modern Concept Of Limiting Factors
A more general and modern concept of limiting factors has been formed by studying the effect
of both the law of minimum and the law of tolerance on living organisms. This leads to useful
conclusions. According to this, living organisms are controlled by the following two
circumstances in the environment-
1.The quantity and variability of those substances which are least needed by the organisms.
2.The tolerance range of the organisms themselves towards other components of the environment.

8. Importance Of Limiting Factors
The relationship of organisms with the environment is very important and complex. Many factors
have a combined effect on the environmental relationship of organisms, but all factors are not of
equal importance.

9. IMPORTANT LIMITING FACTORS
•Many physical and chemical factors found in the environment are called limiting factors
according to the circumstances.
•They behave like atoms. For example-atmospheric gases (O, N, H, CO₂), macronutrients (Mg,
Ca, P, K, S),
•Micronutrients (Mn, Mo, Na, Cl, Cu, Zn, B, Fe) Light, heat, water, soil etc.
•According to Odum(1972), animals in nature are regulated by the limits of tolerance and
variability. The important limiting factors are as follows: 1 water ,2 light, 3 temperature, 4
atmosphere gases, 5 micro and macro nutrients

10. CONCLUSION
Limiting factors are environmental conditions or resources that can limit the growth or
distribution of an ecosystem. They can be physical or biological in nature, and can be
identified by changes in the growth or distribution of a population.

11. Reference
Population ecology , Environment biology