Flexi Says: Density-dependent factors promote intraspecific competition – competition between members of the same population for the same resource – as the population grows and becomes more crowded. Density-dependent limiting factors have the potential to control population size. Consider food supply as an example. When population density is low, amount of food per individual is high, and birth rates are high. As density increases, food supply per individual decline and birth rates drop, causing growth rate to decline. Eventually, food shortages may lead to increased death rates and a negative growth rate, lowering population size. Lower population size means more food per individual, and the population begins to grow again, reaching or temporarily overshooting the carrying capacity. Food supply in this instance is a regulatory limiting factor, because it keeps the population at equilibrium.
