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2. Impacts

An abundance of essential resources relative to needs facilitates growth of consumption and expansion of numbers within a population. Liebig's Law of the Minimum states that the life of an individual or the size of a population is limited by the resource necessary for survival that is in shortest supply. This scarcest resource is known as the limiting factor. Even though a population may have plenty of space into which it can expand, lack of available resources can limit such expansion.

Liebig's Barrel

'Liebig's barrel' is sometimes used to illustrate the concept of Liebig's Law. In the picture above, the shortest plank of the barrel is the limiting factor, constraining how much water can be held inside it.

What does Liebig's law of the Minimum state?