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Competition is an interaction between organisms or species in which both require one or more resources that are in limited supply (such as food, water, or territory). [1] Competition lowers the fitness of both organisms involved since the presence of one of the organisms always reduces the amount of the resource available to the other. [2]
For example, a slight modification of the assumption of how growth and body size are related leads to a different conclusion, namely that, for a given ecosystem, a certain range of species may coexist while others become outcompeted. [10] [11] One of the primary ways niche-sharing species can coexist is the competition-colonization trade-off ...
Interspecific competition, in ecology, is a form of competition in which individuals of different species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). This can be contrasted with mutualism, a type of symbiosis. Competition between members of the same species is called intraspecific competition.
Coexistence theory attempts to explain the paradox of the plankton-- how can ecologically similar species coexist without competitively excluding each other?. Coexistence theory is a framework to understand how competitor traits can maintain species diversity and stave-off competitive exclusion even among similar species living in ecologically similar environments.
An example of direct competition. Intraspecific competition is an interaction in population ecology , whereby members of the same species compete for limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both individuals, but the more fit individual survives and is able to reproduce. [ 1 ]
[2] [3] [4] Second, interspecific competition results in one species driving a competitor to extinction and becoming dominant in the ecosystem. [2] [3] [4] Third, moderate ecological scale disturbances prevent interspecific competition. [2] [3] [4] The hypothesis is ambiguous with its definitions of the terms "intermediate" and "disturbance".
As an example of niche partitioning, several anole lizards in the Caribbean islands share common diets—mainly insects. They avoid competition by occupying different physical locations. Although these lizards might occupy different locations, some species can be found inhabiting the same range, with up to 15 in certain areas. [38]
The R* rule (also called the resource-ratio hypothesis) is a hypothesis in community ecology that attempts to predict which species will become dominant as the result of competition for resources. [1] The hypothesis was formulated by American ecologist David Tilman. [2]