Which principle states that organisms are limited by the environmental factor they tolerate the least?

The principle that asserts organisms are limited by the environmental factor they tolerate the least is Liebig's law of the minimum. This concept was proposed by the German chemist Justus von Liebig in the mid-19th century, and it emphasizes that the growth and survival of an organism is primarily constrained by the scarcest resource, rather than by the overall abundance of resources available. For instance, if a plant requires water, nutrients, and sunlight to thrive, but experiences a deficiency in water, it will be limited by that aspect even if other factors, like sunlight and nutrients, are in sufficient supply.

This principle highlights the importance of a holistic understanding of resource availability and tolerances in ecology, as it illustrates that productivity and health of an organism are not determined just by favorable conditions, but rather by the least favorable condition that limits growth. Understanding this principle can inform conservation efforts and agricultural practices by underlining the critical need to address limiting factors in ecosystems and agricultural settings.

Biotic potential, the theory of natural selection, and the law of large numbers do not capture the essence of this specific limitation and resource dependency as starkly as Liebig's law, focusing instead on different aspects of population dynamics, evolutionary mechanisms, and statistical behaviors,