Difference between revisions of "AY Honors/Ecology - Advanced/Answer Key"

Revision as of 13:58, 14 July 2005

Liebig's Law of the Minimum, often simply called Liebig's Law or the Law of the Minimum, is a principle developed in agricultural science by Justus von Liebig. It states that growth is controlled not by the total of resources available, but by the scarcest resource. This concept was originally applied to plant or crop growth, where it was found that increasing the amount of plentiful nutrients did not increase plant growth. Only by increasing the amount of the limiting nutrient (the one most scarce in relation to "need") was the growth of a plant or crop improved.

Liebig's Law has been extended to biological populations. For example, the growth of a biological population may not be limited by the total amount of resources available throughout the year, but by the minimum amount of resources available to that population at the time of year of greatest scarcity. That is, the growth of a population of animals might depend not on how much food is available in summer, but on how much food is available in winter.

This is closely linked to the chemical principle of the "rate determining step".

de:Liebigsches Minimumgesetz

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-In [[ecology]], a '''biogeochemical cycle''' is a circuit where a [[nutrient]] moves back and forth between both biotic and abiotic components of [[ecosystem]]s.
+'''Liebig's Law of the Minimum''', often simply called '''Liebig's Law''' or the '''Law of the Minimum''', is a principle developed in [[agricultural science]] by [[Justus von Liebig]]. It states that [[growth]] is controlled not by the total of [[resource]]s available, but by the [[limiting factor|scarcest]] resource. This concept was originally applied to [[plant]] or [[crop]] growth, where it was found that increasing the amount of plentiful [[nutrient]]s did not increase plant growth. Only by increasing the amount of the limiting nutrient (the one most scarce in relation to "need") was the growth of a plant or crop improved.
-Some cycles are
+Liebig's Law has been extended to biological [[population]]s. For example, the growth of a biological population may not be limited by the total amount of resources available throughout the [[year]], but by the minimum amount of resources available to that population at the time of year of greatest scarcity. That is, the growth of a population of [[animal]]s might depend not on how much [[food]] is available in [[summer]], but on how much food is available in [[winter]].
-*[[nitrogen cycle]]
-*[[oxygen cycle]]
-*[[carbon cycle]]
-*[[phosphorous cycle]]
-*[[sulphurous cycle]]
-*[[water cycle]]
-*[[hydrogen cycle]]
-[[da:stofkredsløb]] [[fr:Cycle biogéochimique]]
+This is closely linked to the chemical principle of the "rate determining step".
+[[Category:Agriculture]]
+[[Category:Ecology]]
+[[de:Liebigsches Minimumgesetz]]