Zoology · Ch 11 — Organisms and Population
Competition
Competition
Competition, scored (--, --), describes individuals of the same species (intraspecific competition) or of different species (interspecific competition) vying for a resource that is in short supply — food, water, nesting space, cover, mates, or any other resource the organisms both need. When a resource is abundant enough to meet every claimant's demand, no real competition occurs; but once the resource becomes inadequate for everyone seeking it, the weakest, least adapted, or least aggressive individuals are typically the ones forced out — a dynamic formalised as Hardin's competitive exclusion principle. Competition is usually most intense between individuals of the same species, because they share essentially identical requirements for food, mates and other resources, whereas interspecific competition depends on how much overlap exists between different species' requirements, together with how scarce the shared resource is in that habi …
What this figure shows. An illustration of two owls facing off, each attempting to claim the same prey item or food source, wings and talons postured aggressively toward one another. The scene depicts interspecific or intraspecific competition in action, showing direct contest behaviour between individuals over a shared, limited resource, which is the visual example the chapter uses alongside birds competing with squirrels for nuts and seeds and insec …