Unit 2.4 - Ecological Tolerance

Ecological Range of Tolerance

Range of conditions such as temperature, salinity, pH, or sunlight that an organism can endure before injury or death results

Species and individual organisms both have a range of tolerance for all the different environmental conditions of their habitat

Optimal range

range where organisms survive, grow, and reproduce

Zone of physiological stress

range where organisms survive, but experience some stress such as infertility, lack of growth, decreased activity, etc

Zone of intolerance

range where the organism will die

Ex: thermal shock, suffocation, lack of food/water/oxygen