Question #24787
1 Answer
Limiting nutrient is one which limits the efficiency of a process in which it is involved as it is consumed up first.
Explanation:
It is same as limiting reactant in chemistry which is used up first in a reaction while its companion reactant being in enough amount is capable of proceeding the reaction further. But it can't happen because one reactant is missing so, that the reaction gets stopped earlier and thus yield gets limited. Thus the limiting factor in biological processes is termed as limiting nutrient.
Example:
In plants growth of roots usually gets stunted because of the scanty amount of phosphorus in the soil. While the other nutrients i.e. nitrogen, calcium, sulfur are in enough amount. So, in this case, phosphorus is a limiting nutrient .
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