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Related Concept Videos

Competition02:34

Competition

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When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.
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All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.
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Types of Selection

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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Ecological Disturbance02:26

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An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.
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Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
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Related Experiment Video

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Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
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Does density-dependent diversification mirror ecological competitive exclusion?

Melanie J Monroe1,2,3, Folmer Bokma1

  • 1Department of Ecology and Environmental Science and IceLab, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.

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|October 13, 2017
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Ecological density-dependence suggests species compete, limiting diversification. However, this study found no evidence that competition affects body size similarity in bird and mammal clades, questioning its role in diversification slowdown.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Ecology
  • Phylogenetics

Background:

  • Density-dependence describes ecological regulation of population processes by population size.
  • Evolutionary biologists apply this to species accumulation rates, suggesting speciation and extinction depend on the number of species in a clade.
  • This implies competition for resources restricts clade diversification and phenotypic similarity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a method for detecting if interspecific competition has ordered phenotypic traits on a phylogeny.
  • To test the hypothesis that competition prevents related species from evolving identical trait values.
  • To analyze bird and mammal clades for evidence of competition-driven trait ordering using body size.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a phylogenetic method to infer trait ordering due to competition.
  • Applied the method to analyze body size evolution in bird and mammal clades.
  • Assessed whether competition limits phenotypic similarity between related species.

Main Results:

  • No evidence was found that competition has prevented species from sharing similar body sizes.
  • Analysis of bird and mammal clades did not reveal competition-induced ordering of body size traits.
  • Body size, a key ecological trait, does not appear to be constrained by competition between species.

Conclusions:

  • The prevalent diversification slowdown in bird and mammal clades is unlikely caused by ecological interference as suggested by density-dependence.
  • Competition does not seem to be a significant factor in shaping body size differences among related species.
  • The analogy between ecological density-dependence and species diversification rates may not extend to phenotypic trait evolution.