Colorado has a vast population of lodgepole pines. A population of lodgepole pines has been killed in a section of the forest. What is a possible limiting factor of that population?

A limiting factor is something that reduces a population’s size or growth. The pine bark beetle can kill lodgepole pines, so an outbreak could explain why the population in that forest section declined. Genetic variability and shallow roots are not, by themselves, as direct an explanation for a population being killed.

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