Contest competition

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In ecology, contest competition refers to a situation where available resources, such as food and mates, are utilized only by one or a few individuals, thus preventing development or reproduction of other individuals. It refers to a hypothetical situation in which several individuals stage a contest for which one eventually emerges victorious. Contest competition is the opposite of scramble competition, a situation in which available resources are shared equally among individuals.

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As contest competition allows the monopolization of resources, offspring will typically always be produced and survive until adulthood independent of the population size, resulting in stable population dynamics. This is in stark contrast to scramble competition which can result in periodic or chaotic population dynamics. The Beverton–Holt model is often used to represent population dynamics arising from contest competition. This model, and a few other well-known population models, can be explicitly derived from individual-level processes assuming contest competition and a random distribution of individuals among resources. [1]

Contest competition has been observed in a variety of species. In white-faced monkeys, Cebus capucinus , regardless of aggression, avoidance, or sex, higher ranking monkeys had higher energy intake within their group. [2] For female Microcebus murinus groups, if the resource (fruit) could be monopolized, they would compete within their group for it. [3] In a controlled lab experiment with three parasitic wasp species ( Dinarmus basalis , Anisopteromalus calandrae , and Heterospilus prosopidis ) they found that between the first larvae in the host and the second, the larvae that would win depended on the time between them. [4] There was also a Nicholson–Bailey model made to partially explain the relationship between Heterospilus prosopidis and its host Callosobruchus maculatus . [5]

Fitness gains for the winner of the contest is not always known. For example, in mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei , higher ranking females had higher average food-site resident times and higher aggression and avoidance while eating than lower ranking females. [6] Higher ranking females have higher reproductive success, but both energy intake and the energy needed for travel to the food site do not differ among ranks. [6]

Other research in contest competition focus on what aspects are relevant for contest resolution. In a study looking at aerial wars of attrition in territorial insects, they found that the energy Cuterebra austeni got from their resources before adulthood played a role in who won. [7] Some species have obvious gains when they win, but no morphological and/or physiological tell to determine who would win. This is the case with several species of butterflies where males hold a contest over territory. [8] However, a study in 2010 that staged contests between male Pararge aegeria found motivation to be a factor. [9] The more time a male spent with a female, the more persistent they were, which increased the likelihood of the male to win the contest over the previous male holding dominance over the territory.

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Intraspecific competition

Intraspecific competition is an interaction in population ecology, whereby members of the same species compete for limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both individuals, but the more fit individual survives and is able to reproduce. By contrast, interspecific competition occurs when members of different species compete for a shared resource. Members of the same species have rather similar requirements for resources, whereas different species have a smaller contested resource overlap, resulting in intraspecific competition generally being a stronger force than interspecific competition.

<i>Phengaris alcon</i> Species of butterfly

Phengaris alcon, the Alcon blue or Alcon large blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae and is found in Europe and across the Palearctic to Siberia and Mongolia.

Competition (biology) Interaction where the fitness of one organism is lowered by the presence of another organism

Competition is an interaction between organisms or species in which both require a resource that is in limited supply. 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.

Cannibalism Consuming another individual of the same species as food

Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times.

Madame Berthes mouse lemur Species of mammal

Madame Berthe's mouse lemur or Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world; the average body length is 9.2 cm (3.6 in) and seasonal weight is around 30 g (1.1 oz). Microcebus berthae is one of many species of Malagasy lemurs that came about through extensive speciation, caused by unknown environmental mechanisms and conditions.

<i>Jalmenus evagoras</i> Species of butterfly

Jalmenus evagoras, the imperial hairstreak, imperial blue, or common imperial blue, is a small, metallic blue butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is commonly found in eastern coastal regions of Australia. This species is notable for its unique mutualism with ants of the genus Iridomyrmex. The ants provide protection for juveniles and cues for adult mating behavior. They are compensated with food secreted from J. evagoras larvae. The ants greatly enhance the survival and reproductive success of the butterflies. J. evagoras lives and feeds on Acacia plants, so butterfly populations are localized to areas with preferred species of both host plants and ants.

Male-male intrasexual competition occurs when two males of the same species compete for the opportunity to mate with a female. Sexually dimorphic traits, size, sex ratio, and the social situation may all play a role in the effects male-male competition has on the reproductive success of a male and the mate choice of a female. Larger males tend to win male-male conflicts due to their sheer strength and ability to ward off other males from taking over their females. For instance, in the fly Dryomyza anilis, size shows the strongest correlation to the outcome of male-male conflicts over resources like territory and females.

Scramble competition

In ecology, scramble competition refers to a situation in which a resource is accessible to all competitors. However, since the particular resource is usually finite, scramble competition may lead to decreased survival rates for all competitors if the resource is used to its carrying capacity. Scramble competition is also defined as "[a] finite resource [that] is shared equally amongst the competitors so that the quantity of food per individual declines with increasing population density". A further description of scramble competition is "competition for a resource that is inadequate for the needs of all, but which is partitioned equally among contestants, so that no competitor obtains the amount it needs and all would die in extreme cases."

References

  1. Brännström Å, Sumpter DJ (October 2005). "The role of competition and clustering in population dynamics" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 272 (1576): 2065–72. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3185. PMC   1559893 . PMID   16191618.
  2. Vogel ER (August 2005). "Rank differences in energy intake rates in white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus: the effects of contest competition". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 58 (4): 333–344. doi:10.1007/s00265-005-0960-4. ISSN   0340-5443. S2CID   29039152.
  3. Dammhahn M, Kappeler PM (February 2010). "Scramble or contest competition over food in solitarily foraging mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.): New insights from stable isotopes". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 141 (2): 181–9. doi:10.1002/ajpa.21129. PMID   19591211.
  4. Wai KM, Fujii K (June 1990). "Intraspecific larval competition among wasps parasitic of bean weevil larvae". Researches on Population Ecology. 32 (1): 85–98. doi:10.1007/BF02512591. ISSN   0034-5466. S2CID   41202920.
  5. Tuda M, Iwasa Y (October 1998). "Evolution of contest competition and its effect on host–parasitoid dynamics". Evolutionary Ecology. 12 (7): 855–870. doi:10.1023/A:1006550817371. ISSN   0269-7653. S2CID   20737569.
  6. 1 2 Grueter CC, Robbins AM, Abavandimwe D, Vecellio V, Ndagijimana F, Ortmann S, et al. (2016). "Causes, mechanisms, and consequences of contest competition among female mountain gorillas in Rwanda". Behavioral Ecology. 27 (3): 766–776. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arv212 . ISSN   1045-2249.
  7. Kemp DJ, Alcock J (September 2003). "Lifetime resource utilization, flight physiology, and the evolution of contest competition in territorial insects". The American Naturalist. 162 (3): 290–301. doi:10.1086/376890. PMID   12970838. S2CID   25146159.
  8. Kemp DJ, Wiklund C (2001-05-07). "Fighting without weaponry: a review of male-male contest competition in butterflies". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 49 (6): 429–442. doi:10.1007/s002650100318. ISSN   0340-5443. S2CID   25209886.
  9. Bergman M, Olofsson M, Wiklund C (October 2010). "Contest outcome in a territorial butterfly: the role of motivation". Proceedings. Biological Sciences. 277 (1696): 3027–33. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0646. PMC   2982028 . PMID   20462910.

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