Question

What is a limiting nutrient in an ecosystem?

Answer 1

Limiting nutrient:

1. The nutrient which is present in the least quantity in an ecosystem is termed a limiting nutrient in an ecosystem.
2. The growth and reproduction of organisms living in an ecosystem are controlled by the limiting nutrient availability and concentration.
3. Within an ecosystem, plants, animals, and other organisms require specific nutrients to grow and reproduce.
4. If any of these nutrients are not available enough to meet the needs of the organism or population, the chances of full growth are reduced.
5. Organisms show stunting and may produce few or no offspring.
6. Nutrient restrictions have a profound effect on determining the nature of ecosystems and their processes.
7. Nutrients may be limited by a natural scarcity of nutrients in the environment.
8. Soil may lack some nutrients if that substance wasn’t present in the original parent rock from which it was formed.
9. Nutrients can also be limited by availability. The required element may be present within the soil profile but not in a form that plants are able to uptake.

Limiting nutrients in the marine ecosystem:

Nitrogen availability is the most limiting nutrient in the marine ecosystem as its availability causes algal bloom and increased reproduction in water species.

Limiting nutrients in the freshwater ecosystem:

Phosphorous is the most limiting nutrient in the freshwater ecosystem.

Limiting nutrients in the terrestrial ecosystem:

1. Land ecosystems can be limited by nutrients in high rainfall areas, such as in Humid rainforests as rain leaches phosphorus and other nutrients from the soil profile.
2. Nutrients are restricted even in flooded soil because they are bound to organic matter due to their slow decomposition rate.
3. Clay soils combine with soil nutrients and lock them in place, making them unavailable to plants.