Competition Theory in Ecology
Peter A. Abrams
Abstract
Abstract This book explores how mathematical models can illuminate the interaction known as interspecific competition. Competition occurs whenever two or more species share at least some of the same limiting resources. It is likely to affect all species, as well as many higher-level aspects of community and ecosystem dynamics. Interspecific competition shares many of the same features as density dependence (intraspecific competition) and evolution (competition between genotypes). In spite of this, a robust theoretical framework for understanding its outcomes and many potential effects on ecological communities is lacking. Despite its prominence in the ecological literature, the theory seems to have lost direction in recent decades, with many synthetic papers promoting outdated ideas, failing to use resource-based models, and having little utility in applied fields such as conservation and environmental management. The book examines how theory that began to be developed half a century ago can be extended to illuminate the effects of environmental change on the abundances of competing species. Current competition theory needs to incorporate findings regarding consumer–resource interactions in the context of larger food webs containing behaviourally or evolutionarily adapting components. Overly simple models and methods of analysis have led to past theory contributing less than it should have to practical applications. The book also discusses the related interactions of intraspecific competition and apparent competition, and examines the evolutionary as well as the ecological effects of this important process.