Responses to Competition

Question 1

How can competition alter the niche of a species?

Answer 1

If one is a stronger competitor, the other one may need to find other resources

Question 2

What is competitive release?

Answer 2

Removal of a competitor. Results in increased growth of the other species

Question 3

What does the competitive exclusion principle assume?

Answer 3

The environment stays constant, K stays constant, and the competitors have exactly the same resource requirement

Question 4

What is Liebig’s Law of the Minimum?

Answer 4

A population size will increase until a critical resource is limiting

Question 5

What is R*? What organisms does it work best for?

Answer 5

The level of resources to balance mortality. Enough to survive, but not grow. Plants, animals move and complicate things

Question 6

How does the outcome of competition differ when there is one limiting resource vs multiple limiting resources in terms of R*?

Answer 6

One: lower R* will win because it needs less. Multiple limiting resources can lead to coexistence

Question 7

How can multiple species coexist?

Answer 7

Have multiple limiting resources, dynamic disturbance effects that knock back the abundance of the dominant competitor, and competition/colonization trade-off

Question 8

What is the relationship between natural selection and competition?

Answer 8

Natural selection favours those who compete less

Question 9

What are 4 ways similar organisms can coexist?

Answer 9

1. Live somewhere else
2. Eat something else
3. Be active at different times
4. Both are at low abundance

Question 10

What is character displacement?

Answer 10

Resource partitioning and avoiding competition leads to evolutionary changes in morphology. Traits are constrained to a place not optimal for either species