Resource (biology)

Anything required by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce

In biology and ecology, a resource is a substance or object in the environment required by an organism for normal growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Resources can be consumed by one organism and, as a result, become unavailable to another organism.[1][2][3] For plants key resources are light, nutrients, water, and space to grow. For animals key resources are food, water, and territory.

## Key resources for plants

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Terrestrial plants require particular resources for photosynthesis and to complete their life cycle of germination, growth, reproduction, and dispersal:[4][5]

* Carbon dioxide
* Microsite (ecology)
* Nutrients
* Pollination
* Seed dispersal
* Soil
* Water

## Key resources for animals

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Animals require particular resources for metabolism and to complete their life cycle of gestation, birth, growth, and reproduction:[6]

* Foraging
* Territory
* Water

## Resources and ecological processes

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Resource availability plays a central role in ecological processes:

* Carrying capacity
* Biological competition
* Liebig's law of the minimum
* Niche differentiation

## See also

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* Abiotic component
* Biotic component
* Community ecology
* Ecology
* Population ecology
* Plant ecology
* size-asymmetric competition

## References

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1. ^ Miller, G.; Spoolman, Scott (2012). Living in the Environment Principles, Connections, and Solutions. Brooks/Cole. ISBN 978-0-538-73534-6.
2. ^ Ricklefs, R.E. 2005. The Economy of Nature, 6th edition. WH Freeman, USA.
3. ^ Chapin, F.S. III, H.A. Mooney, M.C. Chapin, and P. Matson. 2011. Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Springer, New York.
4. ^ Barbour, M.G. J.H. Burk, W.D. Pitts and F.S. Gilliam. 1998. Terrestrial Plant Ecology, 3rd ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.
5. ^ Craine, J.M. 2009. Resource strategies in wild plants. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
6. ^ Smith, T.M., and R.L. Smith. 2008. Elements of ecology, 7th ed. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco, CA.

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