a. Clumped,
b. Uniform,
c. Random,
d. Clumpe
d. Most organisms don't reach their biotic potential due to limiting factors in their environment, like resources and competition.
Let's identify the dispersion patterns for each scenario:
a. A bunch of mushrooms growing on a rotting log.
Dispersion pattern: Clumped
b. The sage plant secretes toxins, a chemical that kills off surrounding plants in a circle around the individual sage plants.
Dispersion pattern: Uniform
c. Dandelions have wind-dispersed seeds that germinate wherever they happen to fall in a favorable environment.
Dispersion pattern: Random
d. A herd of elephants gather around a watering hole.
Dispersion pattern: Clumped
As for the second question:
Why do most organisms rarely reach their biotic potential?
Most organisms rarely reach their biotic potential due to various limiting factors in their environment.
These factors include resource availability (such as food, water, and shelter), competition with other species, predation, diseases, and environmental conditions (temperature, climate, etc.).
Additionally, the concept of carrying capacity, which is the maximum population size that an environment can support, plays a crucial role in limiting the population growth of organisms.
These factors collectively prevent populations from continuously growing at their maximum potential rate.