The best explanation for this unchecked population growth is that the predators are too few to slow down population growth of mussels. The environment limits population growth by changing birth and death rates. The factors affecting population size and growth include biotic factors such as food, disease, competitors, and predators and abiotic factors such as rainfall, floods, and temperature. Predators affect individual growth rates of surviving prey by acting to increase growth rate by thinning the density of prey populations, which releases survivors from competition.
