preview

Competitive Exclusion Principle

Decent Essays

4.
Two species were driven to extinction. The first one was in scenario 5. Species 1 was driven to extinction due to its high α value. It hit a population of zero (0.42) at time 36. I chose this because this is the first time the value cannot be rounded up to 1.0.

In Scenario 6, species 2 was driven to extinction due to its lower intrinsic rate of growth, r. It hit a population of zero (0.47) much later, at time 113.

5.
If resources are limiting, one species, with an advantage, will drive the other to extinction. The competitive exclusion principle refers to the idea that complete competitors cannot coexist. In an environment where resources are constant and limiting, one species will always have some sort of advantage for competing for these resources. For the other species, the only way out of the situation is to become extinct, or move to another niche. Gause experimented with this theory with two species of Paramecium, where he kept them competing under constant conditions. One species would always outcompete the other. The only way for the other to outcompete the first is if the resources were manipulated.

6.
There is some debate as to who developed the idea of competitive exclusion (Tyus 2011). Gause, may have been the first to show experimentally that the principle was true, at least in the lab. Hutchinson, Grinnell, and …show more content…

From the beginning of life, there have been uncountable numbers of living organisms and species across the planet. But what forces are at play to create such diversity. Surely, competition for resources drives evolution, but there are many styles of obtaining these resources and avoiding dangers. Interspecific competition comes from two species competing for the same resource. Over time, these forces push species to obtain these resources differently. This could be from changing the time or location of getting this resource, to adapting different functions or

Get Access