Shelford's law of tolerance A law, proposed by V. E. Shelford, that states that the presence and success of an organism depend upon the extent to which a complex of conditions are satisfied. The absence or failure of an organism can be controlled by the qualitative or quantitative deficiency or excess or any one of several factors which may approach the limits of tolerance for that organism.

Shelford's law of tolerance A law stating that the abundance or distribution of an organism can be controlled by certain factors (e.g. the climatic, topographic, and biological requirements of plants and animals) where levels of these exceed the maximum or minimum limits of tolerance of that organism.