Interspecific competition is not a major organizing force in many insect communities

Shorrocks, Bryan; Rosewell, Jon; Edwards, Kathy and Atkinson, Will (1984). Interspecific competition is not a major organizing force in many insect communities. Nature, 310(5975) pp. 310–312.

URL:	http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v310/n5975/ab...
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link:	https://doi.org/10.1038/310310a0
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Abstract

Part of the current dogma in ecology is that competition between species for limited resources is not only common but also a major organizing force in many communities largely because studies on vertebrates, particularly birds, have played a major role in creating the traditional framework of niche theory and resource partitioning. Other workers, particularly those studying insect communities, have suggested that significant interspecific competition is too rare and sporadic to be of major significance and have placed more emphasis on autecological processes. Efforts to resolve the controversy have concentrated on the question of whether or not competition is common in nature. Here we show that even where competition can be demonstrated, it need not have a major role in community organization.

Item Type:	Journal Item
ISSN:	1476-4687
Keywords:	coexistence; aggregation; patchy environment; probability refuge; negative binomial; Drosophila; population dynamics;
Academic Unit/School:	Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Computing and Communications Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Interdisciplinary Research Centre:	Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET)
Item ID:	17326
Depositing User:	Jonathan Rosewell
Date Deposited:	02 Jul 2009 15:49
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2016 10:25
URI:	http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/17326
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