Limiting factors are the biotic and abiotic environmental elements that model a species population size affecting their carrying capacity. 1) alligators and mosquitoes 2) pollution 3) alligators 4) pollution 5) frogs are control species 6) + alligators, - frogs // + mosquitoes, + frogs.
<h3>What is a limiting factor? </h3>Limiting factors are all the environmental elements, biotic and abiotic, that act directly on populations and individuals, limiting their distribution and growth.
These factors affect the carrying capacity, influencing on natality and mortality rate, migration, etcetera.
In the exposed example, limiting factors are
- Alligators (predator)
- Pollution
- Mosquitoes (food)
These three elements model the Frog population size according to their magnitude and population sizes.
Two simulations per factor were performed in order to see how much each factor affected the frog's populations.
The <u>data chart</u> shows the following tendency,
<u>Alligators</u>
- Low number of alligators → there was an increase in frogs number from
10 to 18.
- High number of alligators → there was a decrease in frogs number from
10 to 3.
<u>Pollution</u>
- Low pollution level → there was no change in frogs number
- High pollution level → there was a decrease in frogs number from
10 to 7.
<u>Mosquitoes</u>
- Low number of mosquitoes → there was a decrease in frogs number
from 10 to 5.
- High number of mosquitoes → there was an increase in frogs number
from 10 to 17.
Information from the graph expresses thesame tendency,
<u>Alligators</u>
- Low number of alligators → there was an increase from 50k to 90k.
- High number of alligators → there was a decrease from 50k to 10k.
<u>Pollution</u>
- Low pollution level → there was no change
- High pollution level → there was a decrease from 50k to 35k.
<u>Mosquitoes</u>
- Low number of mosquitoes → there was a decrease from 50k to 25k.
- High number of mosquitoes → there was an increase from 50k to 85k.
1. Which limiting factor(s) in this lab simulation are biotic?
Alligator (predator) and mosquitoes (food)
2. Which limiting factor(s) in this lab simulation are abiotic?
Pollution
3. Which limiting factor impacted the cricket frog population the most? Use evidence to support your answer.
According to the chart and to the graph, the presence/absence of predators impacted the most on the frogs population.
4. Which limiting factor impacted the cricket frog population the least? Use evidence to support your answer.
Pollution is the factor that least affected the frogs population size.
5. Mosquitoes can carry and transmit disease to animals and humans. Explain how the cricket frog plays an important role in limiting the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses like West Nile virus and malaria.
Since frogs feed on mosquitoes, they become a natural control species for the mosquitoes, limiting their spread and effects on humans and animals.
Frogs are a biotic limiting factor for moesquitoes population.
6. Predict the long-term effects of these limiting factors on the cricket frog population in the pond ecosystem.
It depends on the pond ecosystem.
- If there are too many alligators, frogs population will decrease. This decrease will probably affect alligator population size (assuming no other source of food for this last species), and only when predator population size decreases, frogs population will increase again.
- If there are too many mosquitoes, frogs population will increase, which will cause a decrease in mosquitoes population. Less mosquitoes will drive to less frogs. The decrease in the number of frogs will increase the number of mosquitoes again.
↑ alligators and ↑ mosquitoes ⇒ ↓ frogs
↓ alligators and ↑ mosquitoes ⇒s ↑ frogs
↑ alligators and ↑ mosquitoes ⇒↓frogs
↓ alligators and ↓ mosquitoes ⇒ ↓frogs
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