Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

2.3: Factors Limiting Population Growth

  • Page ID
    12227
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Recall previously that we defined density as the number of individuals per unit area. In nature, a population that is introduced to a new environment or is rebounding from a catastrophic decline in numbers may grow exponentially for a while because density is low and resources are not limiting. Eventually, one or more environmental factors will limit its population growth rate as the population size approaches the carrying capacity and density increases. Example: imagine that in an effort to preserve elk, a population of 20 individuals is introduced to a previously unoccupied island that’s 200 km2 in size. The population density of elk on this island is 0.1 elk/km2 (or 10 km2 for each individual elk). As this population grows (depending on its per capita rate of increase), the number of individuals increases but the amount of space does not so density increases. Suppose that 10 years later, the elk population has grown to 800 individuals, density = 4 elk/ km2 (or 0.25 km2 for each individual). The population growth rate will be limited by various factors in the environment. For example, birth rates may decrease due to limited food or death rate increase due to rapid spread of disease as individuals encounter one another more often. This impact on birth and death rate in turn influences the per capita rate of increase and how the population size changes with changes in the environment. When birth and death rates of a population change as the density of the population changes, the rates are said to be density-dependent and the environmental factors that affect birth and death rates are known as density-dependent factors. In other cases, populations are held in check by factors that are not related to the density of the population and are called density-independent factors and influence population size regardless of population density. Conservation biologists want to understand both types because this helps them manage populations and prevent extinction or overpopulation.

    The density of a population can enhance or diminish the impact of density-dependent factors. Most density-dependent factors are biological in nature (biotic), and include such things as predation, inter- and intraspecific competition for food and mates, accumulation of waste, and diseases such as those caused by parasites. Usually, higher population density results in higher death rates and lower birth rates. For example, as a population increases in size food becomes scarcer and some individuals will die from starvation meaning that the death rate from starvation increases as population size increases. Also as food becomes scarcer, birth rates decrease due to fewer available resources for the mother meaning that the birth rate decreases as population size increases. For density-dependent factors, there is a feedback loop between population density and the density-dependent factor.

    Two examples of density-dependent regulation are shown in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\). First one is showing results from a study focusing on the giant intestinal roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), a parasite that infects humans and other mammals. Denser populations of the parasite exhibited lower fecundity (number of eggs per female). One possible explanation for this is that females would be smaller in more dense populations because of limited resources and smaller females produce fewer eggs.

    Screenshot (21).png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): (a) Graph of number of eggs per female (fecundity), as a function of population size. In this population of roundworms, fecundity (number of eggs) decreases with population density. (b) Graph of clutch size (number of eggs per “litter”) of the great tits bird as a function of population size (breeding pairs). Again, clutch size decreases as population density increases. (Photo credits: Worm image from Wikimedia commons, public domain image; bird image from Wikimedia commons, photo by Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0)

    Density-independent birth rates and death rates do NOT depend on population size; these factors are independent of, or not influenced by, population density. Many factors influence population size regardless of the population density, including weather extremes, natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, etc.), pollution and other physical/abiotic factors. For example, an individual deer may be killed in a forest fire regardless of how many deer happen to be in the forest. The forest fire is not responding to deer population size. As the weather grows cooler in the winter, many insects die from the cold. The change in weather does not depend on whether there is a population size of 100 mosquitoes or 100,000 mosquitoes, most mosquitoes will die from the cold regardless of the population size and the weather will change irrespective of mosquito population density. Looking at the growth curve of such a population would show something like an exponential growth followed by a rapid decline rather than levelling off (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)).

    Screenshot (23).png
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Weather change acting as a density-independent factor limiting aphid population growth. This insect undergoes exponential growth in the early spring and then rapidly die off when the weather turns hot and dry in the summer

    In real-life situations, density-dependent and independent factors interact. For example, a devastating earthquake occurred in Haiti in 2010. This earthquake was a natural geologic event that caused a high human death toll from this density-independent event. Then there were high densities of people in refugee camps and the high density caused disease to spread quickly, representing a density-dependent death rate.

    Q: Can you think of other density-dependent (biological) and density-independent (abiotic) population limiting factors?


    This page titled 2.3: Factors Limiting Population Growth is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Caralyn Zehnder, Kalina Manoylov, Samuel Mutiti, Christine Mutiti, Allison VandeVoort, & Donna Bennett (GALILEO Open Learning Materials) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.