AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -When resources are limited, “competition, ” increases and some populations of organisms will decrease. Some individuals may even be weaker or smaller without the resources they need. Natural disasters, environmental changes, and humans can all have an effect on the availability of resources.

Detailed explanation-2: -When two species compete for the same limiting resource the reduction of the niche overlap may lead to evolutionary changes in both species. Alternatively the competitively dominant species does not change and is maybe even able to expand its niche, and thus reduces niche space available for the other species.

Detailed explanation-3: -Competition for limiting resources is among the most fundamental ecological interactions and has long been considered a key driver of species coexistence and biodiversity. Species’ minimum resource requirements, their R*s, are key traits that link individual physiological demands to the outcome of competition.

Detailed explanation-4: -Competition often takes place via the using up or depleting of resources by members of one species, making those resources unavailable to members of the second species. Resources would include nest sites, food items, water or minerals in the soil. This is called indirect competition.

Detailed explanation-5: -Competition lowers the fitness of both organisms involved, since the presence of one of the organisms always reduces the amount of the resource available to the other (Lang & Benbow 2013). In the study of community ecology, competition within and between members of a species is an important biological interaction.