Limiting+Factors

Limiting Factors

A **limiting factor** is a factor (abiotic and biotic) that decreases population size.

There are two types of limiting factors:

In the tropical savanna, some factors are lack of rainfall and lightning-set fires. During the rainy season, fires set by lightning storms kill tree seeds. If this did not happen, the savanna would turn into a tropical dry forest.
 * Density-Independent**- Limiting factor that affects population regardless of size.


 * Density-Dependent** - Limiting factor that depends on population size. Some factors are  competition between organisms for food, predation, and parasitism. As the populations of herbivores rise, the carnivores kill even more of them for food, helping regulate their population.