1. Aim: How are populations limited by the carrying capacity of the environment?

2. Relationships in an Ecosystem:
Predator vs. Prey
The stability of an Ecosystem is
dependent on the balance of these
relationships/cycles.
Photosynthesis
Water Cycle

3. How many students can be in a classroom?

4. What limits the size of the student population?
The number of desks, number of teachers, space

5. What factors can affect the size of a population?
Limiting Factors- anything that _______ the size of a population.
Two Types of Limiting Factors
Abiotic Biotic
restricts

6. What abiotic factors limit the size of a population?
Energy, temperature, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, soil, minerals, pH, nutrients
These resources are finite (limited) not infinite (unlimited)

7. What biotic factors limit the size of a population?
Competition - the population that is the best adapted to the environment will increase and the other population will die out or will migrate
Ex. Predators, prey(food source)

8. What are some examples of competition in an ecosystem?
Indirect Competition: struggle for resources among organisms in an ecosystem.
The organisms best adapted to get the resources will survive and the other organisms will die or migrate.

9. What are some examples of competition in an ecosystem?
-Direct Competition: organisms hunt and kill each other
Predator Prey relationships – cyclical changes

10. Movie – Importance of having predators

11. Carrying Capacity
“amount it can hold”
The maximum number of organisms that the ecosystem can support.
It is determined by the limiting factors & competition.

12. What happens to new, small populations?
The population usually will increase until the carrying capacity is reached and then the population will remain stable.

13. Can the carrying capacity of an environment change?
Yes, anytime there is a natural catastrophe or when humans take space away from the ecosystem