Limiting factors affecting the growth of a population are best described by which Darwinian phrase?

• A. Natural Selection
• B. Survival of the Fittest
• C. Limiting Factors
• D. Biodiversity

Answer: (B)

When resources like food, space, water, and shelter are limited, not all individuals in a population can survive and reproduce. Those with traits that help them cope with these limits—such as better food gathering, speed to escape, or tolerance to climate—are more likely to leave offspring. Over time, the population tends to become better adapted to its environment because the successful traits are passed on. This idea is captured by the phrase “survival of the fittest,” which highlights that reproductive success, given the current conditions, determines which individuals contribute most to the next generation. Natural selection is the process that explains how this happens, but the phrase focuses on the outcome: the fittest survive and reproduce more, shaping the population under limiting factors. Biodiversity is about the variety of living things, and limiting factors are the constraints themselves, not the way Darwin described this outcome.