Ecological competition

Ecological competition

The interaction of two (or more) organisms (or species) such that, for each, the birth or growth rate is depressed and the death rate increased by the presence of the other organisms (or species). Competition is recognized as one of the more important forces structuring ecological communities, and interest in competition led to one of the first axioms of modern ecology, the competitive exclusion principle. The principle suggests that in situations where the growth and reproduction of two species are resource-limited, only one species can survive per resource.

The competitive exclusion principle was originally derived by mathematicians using the Lotka-Volterra competition equations. This model of competition predicts that if species differ substantially in competitive ability, the weaker competitor will be eliminated by the stronger competitor. However, a competitive equilibrium can occur if the negative effect of each species on itself (intraspecific competition) is greater than the negative effect of each species on the other species (interspecific competition). Because the competitive exclusion principle implies that competing species cannot coexist, it follows that high species diversity depends upon mechanisms through which species avoid competition.

In general, competitive exclusion can be prevented if the relative competitive abilities of species vary through time and space. Such variation occurs in two ways. First, dispersal rates into particular patches may fluctuate, causing fluctuations in the numerical advantage of a species in a particular patch. Second, competitive abilities of species may be environmentally dependent and, therefore, fluctuate with local environmental changes. Competitive exclusion can also be avoided if fluctuations in environmental factors reduce the densities of potentially competing species to levels where competition is weak and population growth is for a time insensitive to density.

Coexistence is not merely a result of environmental harshness or fluctuations but also involves the critical element of niche differentiation (that is, species must differ from one another if they are to coexist). However, the focus is not how species coexist by partitioning resources, but how species can coexist on the same resources by differing sufficiently in their responses to environmental conditions and fluctuations. See Ecological communities, Ecological succession

Competition theory has been applied to human-manipulated ecosystems used to produce food, fiber, and forage crops as well as in forestry and rangeland management. Although many characteristics of agricultural systems are similar to those of natural ecosystems, agricultural communities are unique because they are often managed for single-species (sometimes multispecies) production and they are usually characterized by frequent and intense disturbance. Studies of competition in agriculture have primarily examined crop loss from weed abundance under current cropping practices, and have evaluated various weed control tactics and intercropping systems. Factors that influence competition in agroecosystems include the timing of plant emergence, growth rates, spatial arrangements among neighbors, plant–plant-environment interactions, and herbivory. See Ecology