Which statement best describes environmental resistance?

• A. Factors that increase population growth
• B. The sum of biotic and abiotic factors that limit population growth
• C. The maximum potential reproduction rate
• D. The genetic health of a population

Answer: (B)

Environmental resistance is the set of environmental pressures that prevent a population from reaching its full growth, combining both biotic and abiotic factors that limit growth. Biotic factors include things like predators, competition, and disease, while abiotic factors include temperature, rainfall, and nutrient availability. As these limiting factors come into play, birth rates fall or death rates rise, and the population levels off near the environment’s carrying capacity. That’s why describing environmental resistance as the sum of biotic and abiotic factors that limit population growth is the best fit. The other ideas describe different concepts: biotic potential is the maximum growth rate under ideal conditions, and genetic health concerns relate to viability rather than the limiting factors imposed by the environment.