​If there's not enough food or water, individuals will die through starvation, desiccation (the removal of moisture from something) and stress, or they will fail to produce offspring.

Food and water

​Competition would increase. Lack of resources would affect the local population and the carrying capacity of the area would suffer.

​​Space

​Exposure to the elements or predators is a major factor.

Shelter

​Limiting Factors to take into consideration

​

• ​Limiting Factors are conditions of the environment that limit the growth of a species.

• Because of these limiting factors, each ecosystem has a finite capacity for growth connected to its carrying capacity.

Limiting Factors

• First-order consumers feed directly on producers

• Second-order consumer feed on first-order consumers

• Third-order consumer feeds on second-order consumers

​

Food Chains and Food Webs

​

• Decomposers are organisms that gets energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms and the wastes of living things.

• ​Producers make their own food through photosynthesis.

• Ecosystems get all energy from the sun! ​

​

​

Food Chains and Food Webs

​

• Animals coexist when they live in the same habitat but rely on different resources

  Mutualism is a relationship in which both species benefit

​

Animal Relationships​

​

• Commensalism is a relationship where one species benefits without benefiting or harming the other species

• Parasitism is a relationship between a parasite and its host where one species benefits and the other is harmed.

​

​

​Animal Relationships