What Are Examples of Limiting Factors?
Examples of limiting factors include competition, parasitism, predation, disease, abnormal weather patterns, natural calamities, seasonal cycles and human activities. In terms of population growth, limiting factors can be classified into density-dependent factors and density-independent factors.
Limiting factors hinder the population of an organism from flourishing. A density-dependent factor depends on the number of organisms living in a particular area, while a density-independent factor affects all organisms regardless of their population size. A change in a limiting factor, such as the sudden abundance of essential nutrients, may result to an increased population. Nature, however, tends to balance population sizes of various flora and fauna through the predator and prey relationship.
