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Competition in Well-Mixed Habitats: From Competitive Exclusion to Competitive Chaos

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Competition and Coexistence

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 161))

Abstract

Until today, the overwhelming species diversity of many ecosystems, including rainforests and coral reefs, remains a fascinating mystery, which we have only just begun to unravel. The processes that determine the species composition of natural communities have always been a major topic in ecology. Among these processes, species interactions like competition and predation play an important role. The dynamics and community composition that result from such species interactions are under intensive study by community ecologists. The questions generally considered in community ecology were succinctly summarised by Silander and Pacala (1990, pp. 67-68):

“The broad aim of population or community ecology is to understand the way different kinds of interactions affect the dynamics and structure of a particular system or systems. For example, one needs to understand the contribution of density- and frequency dependent interactions (i.e., competition, predation, and compensatory interactions) to community structure and dynamics. Does the population or community reach an equilibrium? Is it stable or unstable? What is the nature of the equilibrium? Is the dynamical behaviour oscillatory or nonoscillatory? What are the conditions necessary for species coexistence?”

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Authors
  1. J. Passarge
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  2. J. Huisman
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© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Passarge, J., Huisman, J. (2002). Competition in Well-Mixed Habitats: From Competitive Exclusion to Competitive Chaos. In: Competition and Coexistence. Ecological Studies, vol 161. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56166-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56166-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62800-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-56166-5

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