The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
The Law of the Minimum was first proposed in 1840 by Justus von Liebig, a German chemist. He worked on agricultural crops and concluded that the level of individual chemicals in the manure fertilizer he added proportionately influenced growth of the crops. Each plant and animal requires certain kinds and amounts of nutrients (both macro- and micro-nutrients) for optimal growth and survival. If all chemicals are provided except for one key ingredient, the plant or animal will either stop growing or die. If that one chemical is added in excess, then the next essential element in limiting concentration will limit the growth, and so on. An analogous illustration would be a wooden barrel with staves where each stave is cut at a certain height. The level of water poured into this barrel would reach only that of the shortest stave, which would be equivalent to the limiting nutrient.
Phosphorus is the number one limiting nutrient in most lakes. Limnologists (aquatic ecologists) know that if they can limit the phosphorus input into a water body, then they can control algal growth in this system. People who fertilize their lawns often unknowingly add excess nutrients when only one element such as nitrogen may be limiting the growth. This accounts for much of the excess nutrient input into aquatic ecosystems.
Not only is too little of essential chemicals important, but too much can also be detrimental. For example, copper is an essential trace element for algae, but it can be added in excess (known as "blue-stoning") to control algal blooms. Thus, the Law of Tolerance, which describes the optimum environmental conditions for organisms, is a more realistic ecological concept than the Law of the Minimum.