The theory of a vitalism has been rejected by present-day scientist. describe vitalism. describe what scientists now think about the basis of life and why they rejected the theory of vitalism.

On the basis of the theory of vitalism, all the living things are specific and are distinct from the non-living components as they comprise a unique entity within themselves. This soul or entity distinguishes them from the non-living counterparts. Both of them are monitored by a distinct set of principles.  

However, the theory got rejected when Wohler became successful in obtaining urea from the non-living substance, thus, suggesting the point that the biological constituents can also be obtained from the non-living counterparts. The present scientists now consider that the living components are just more composite in comparison to the non-living constituents.  

answer: decrease

a limiting factor is the one which decrease the abundance, distribution and causes extinction of the population of species in a ecosystem. here, predators including hawks, owls and snakes are the limiting factor for the population of mexican free tailed bat.   although bats are nocturnal animals as they forge for food at night these predators also may remain active during night which can decrease the population of the mexican free-tailed bats. also, these bats eat only one type of insects that are moths. the food can also be a limiting factor as all 400 members are dependent upon same type of food needs that are moths. the decrease in the moth population can cause decrease in population size of the mexican free-tailed bats.

therefore, the scenarios will most likely to decrease the population size of the mexican free-tailed bats.