Virginia 7th Grade Science SOL Practice Test

Limiting factors are environmental features that prevent a population from growing without bound. When resources like food, water, space, or favorable conditions are limited, not all individuals can survive and reproduce, so the population levels off at a certain size. These factors can be biotic, such as predators, disease, or competition with others, or abiotic, such as drought, extreme temperatures, or habitat destruction. The statement that best describes a limiting factor is a factor that restricts population growth, because it directly limits how large the population can become. It's not about something that would increase growth, nor about something that never changes, nor something that only affects predators—the limiting factor is anything in the environment that reduces the potential for the population to keep increasing.