Interactive · 4 questions
When organisms fight over resources such as food, water, or land, they are competing.
There are two main classes of competition:
Intraspecific competition happens between members of the same species.
In this example of intraspecific competition, two gray mice fight over the same piece of cheese.
Interspecific competition happens between members of different species.
In this example of interspecific competition, a gray mouse and a brown mouse fight over the same piece of cheese.
Competition can happen in a few different ways.
Direct or interference competition happens when organisms fight for a resource.
Two mice take part in direct or interference competition when they fight over cheese.
A more realistic example would be male beetles that fight over mates, where the the winner might get to reproduce but both might lose antennae or legs in the process.
Indirect or exploitative competition happens when an organism outcompetes others because it has control over a limiting resource in the environment.
In this example of indirect or exploitative competition, the King Mouse controls the cheese, leaving the common mice starving.
A slightly more realistic example would be a plant snatching up all the available nitrogen in the surrounding soil, preventing other plants from growing there.
Apparent competition happens when one organism is better at escaping a predator than another organism.
In this example of apparent competition, the mouse that hid in the hole survived, while the mouse that stayed outside was eaten by the cat.
The competitive exclusion principle means that two species cannot occupy the same niche. A niche is the highly specific environment that a species inhabits. A common demonstration of the competitive exclusion principle comes from several species of birds trying to live in the same tree.
If two species of bird try to build their nests in the same spot, competition will occur. One bird will win the spot, and the other will adapt by finding a new branch, or niche, to live in. Otherwise, it will go extinct by failing to find a new spot for its nest, which stops it from having new baby birds.
What are the two main categories of competition?
Two different types of monkey live in a tree. One species is small and fast and can eat all of the bananas on the tree before the sun even rises. The second species is having a hard time finding food because they are large and slow. What kind of competition is this?
A gazelle is able to quickly get to the watering hole and drink lots of water before other animals arrive. However, when a lion comes along, it is the last to run away, and is eaten. What kind of competition do the other animals experience when the gazelle is eaten?
Can two species share the same niche?
