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 Competition
Krebs, Chapter 10
Competition

You are responsible for material in textbook:

1)Species interactions (p. 164 -165)
2)Lotka-Voltera model of competition (p. 165 -168)
3)Competition in experimental and natural
populations (p. 169 -177)
4)Evolution of competitive ability (p. 179 -183) READ 8
THIS
 Species in a community interact through:

Predation
Herbivory
Negative interactions
Parasitism
Disease
Mutualism
Facilitation Positive interactions
Competition

Competition –

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 Competition - occurs
when organisms utilize or
seek out a common
resource that is in short
supply.
Resource competition

o
m
C

pe
titi
on Long-legged ant

Interference competition 10
Red harvester ant
 Among individuals within a population:
intraspecific competition

Among individuals of different species:

interspecific competition Sorghastrum nutans
Competition

Size of an Individual Plant

Grown at low density

Grown at high density

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 Lotka-Voltera provided a mathematical model
based on the logistic equation.

dN = r N (K-N)
Competition models

Carrying capacity
dt K

Exponential growth

Instantaneous changes
in population size through time

Intraspecific competition is represented by K -N

K
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Fixed amount of a resource, represented by box size

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 between species

Obviously resources will also decrease with interspecific

competition. Lotka-Voltera proposed:
Competition models

𝑑𝑁1
=
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑁2
=
𝑑𝑡

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Populations will stop growing when:

dN1 = r1 N1 (K1- N1-N2) = 0

dt K1

𝑑𝑁1
= 0, when:
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑁2
= 0, when:
𝑑𝑡

These straight lines are called: isoclines of

zero population growth
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Isoclines of zero population growth (1)

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KR/α

KS/β

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Isoclines of zero population growth (3)
Coexistence is only possible when the isoclines cross

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Under conditions of extreme crowding in
laboratory experiments, it is possible for two
species to live together indefinitely if they differ
even slightly in their requirements?

Crombie reared grain beetles: Rhizopertha and

Oryzaephilus in wheat – the larvae of Rhiz. live
and feed inside the grain, whereas the larvae of
Oryz. live and feed outside the grain. The adults
have the same feeding behaviour.

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17
KR/α

KO/β

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 Lotka and Volterra
Competition models

In general, LV predicts coexistence of

two species when, for both species,
interspecific (between sp) competition
is weaker than intraspecific (within sp)
competition.

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 1- Competition can lead to one species winning
and the other going extinct.
Competition models

2- Some competitive interactions can lead to

coexistence.

3- We can understand competitive interactions

only by knowing the resources involved and the
mechanisms by which species compete.

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 Experimental evidence: grain beetles
Examples of competition

Book p. 171
 Figure 10-11
Growth: (14% moist.), 29.1oC

The outcome of competition

depends of the environment
Examples of competition

Growth: (14% moist.), 32.3oC

So what about the real world??
• Gause (1934) – “as a result of competition
two similar species scarcely ever occupy
similar NICHES, but displace each other in
such a manner that each takes possession
of certain peculiar kinds of food and
modes of life in which it has an advantage
over its competitors”

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 Minimum A niche diagram
amount
required for Maximum growth rate
growth at the optimal level of
resource

Maximum
The niche

amount
tolerated

For any condition required for growth and survival

 The fundamental niche
The ecological space (conditions, resources, time)
occupied by a species in the absence of competition and
predation by other species. ABSTRACT because we can’t
really measure it.
The niche

Temperature Range

Individuals
2. Temperature and precipitation

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Individuals absent
Precipitation (cm/y)

4 Individuals present

0
0 10 20 30 40
Temperature (oC) 26
 Hutchinson (1958)
• The niche includes all of the
environmental parameters (n) important to
the survival and growth of a species:
The niche

n-dimensional hypervolume

• Fortunately (for ecologists) only a few

environmental factors are of overriding
importance – these are not necessarily the
same for every organism
 Organisms live in the same habitat
but occupy different niches

ni
Examples of competition

ch
e
th
e

an
d

Fundamental niche: ecological space occupied by a species in the absence of

competition and predation
C
o Realized niche: the observed ecological space used by a
m species in the presence of competition and predation
pe
titi
on
 Figure 10-1
p. 173

The Realized Niche:

The niche
Lab results show competitive exclusion, but field
results show many spp. living together…..
1. No competitive exclusion – because the
species occupied separate niches?
(Competition rare in nature)
2. Among closely related species – did
competition occur in the past? Selection
pressure caused adaptation to specialize
which minimized competition? (Competition
has been very common)

• Limit of descriptive work

– 2 species differ as a by-product of speciation
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but did competition CAUSE the differences???
Descriptive Study – Why no Competitive Exclusion?

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 Zones of activity

Competition
Examples of competition

in natural
populations

B=base of branches
M=middles of
branches
T= terminal portions
of branches Figure 10-14
 “The niche of an animal means its
place in the biotic environment,
its relations to food and enemies.”

• Chthamalus and
Balanus are
barnacles that
grow in the
Examples of competition

intertidal regions
on rocky shores.
• Produce larvae
which settle on the
rocks
• The larvae grow
into adults
 Fundamental and realized niches
No Interspecific Competition Interspecific Competition

High
tide
Examples of competition

Initial larvae
distribution

Low
tide
 Testing for competition
Competition among rodents in Chihuahuan Desert
James H. Brown (University of New Mexico)
Examples of competition

Kangaroo rat:
Dipodomys sp.

Large granivorous
rodent
Diet consists of seeds

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 Competition and Niches of
Small Rodents
Hypothesis: if competition among rodents is
Examples of competition

mainly for food, then

(1) Small granivorous rodent populations would

increase in response to removal of larger
granivorous rodents (Dipodomys).

(2) Insectivorous rodents would show little or no

response.

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 Experimental design:

24 plots 50 by 50 m
1977; replicated in 1988
Examples of competition

Initially, plots were fenced to ensure that rodents

could not come in – remove the large kangaroo
rat Dipodomys
Then cut small holes in fences to allow other
small rodents free movement, but exclude
large Dipodomys
Control plots with no fence
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 Results supported hypothesis.
Examples of competition

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 Figure 10-18

Meta analysis of 218 studies covering 93 species

Examples of competition
 Evolution of competitive ability
The Galapagos finches

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42
 Character displacement
Evolution of competitive ability

Figure 10-23 43
p. 183