Competition and Animal Distributions Flashcards
What is exploitation competition?
Using a resource up
No direct behavioural interaction between organisms
What is interference competition?
Direct competition between two organisms
Also called resource defense
As a rich habitat starts filling up with exploitation competitors, poorer habitats begin to become equal, what is this called?
Ideal free distribution
With ideal free distribution, which competitors do better than others?
All competitors do equally as well
Habitats only vary by number of competitors with this model.
What is the despotic distribution? Do competitors do equally well under this model?
The competition model that assumes there is interference competition where rich habitats fill up first and then animals go to the poor environment.
Competitors don’t do equally well because there is monopolizing of resources.
2 guys dropping breadcrumbs at different rates at opposite sides of the duckpond. What do you expect to happen?
The high rate guy had more ducks than the low rate guy, the high rate side filled up and other ducks went to the low end side.
What is economic defendability?
Determining the benefits and costs of defending territories. When the benefits outweigh the costs, it is predicted that they will defend their territory.
True or false? An animal should defend the biggest territory it can.
False. Shouldn’t defend a territory if:
- Resources are scarce
- Competitors are scarce
- Resources are very abundant
- Competitors are very abundant
Should defend if resources and competitors are moderate
The better the precipitation, the better the grass grows. When do you expect to see competition?
Moderate amount of precipitation, not low precipitation or very high precipitation
What are the two types of competition?
- Exploitation
- Interference
What are the assumptions and predictions of ideal free distribution?
Assumptions
- Free to go where they choose
- Equal competitive abilities
Predictions
- Distribution according to profitability
- Competitors do equally well
What are the assumptions and predictions of a despotic animal distribution?
Assumptions
- Not free to go where they choose
- Unequal competitive ability
Predictions
- Distributions not according to profitability but instead to competitor strength/numbers
- Competitors do not do equally well
What are three things that compels a territorial animal to defend?
- Mates and mating sites
- Breeding sites
- Food
- All of the above for multipurpose territories
What economic defendability?
Optimality models primarily predict the occurrence of territoriality based on whether the net benefits of defense are greater than the net benefits of a non-aggressive strategy; that is whether the resource is economically defendable.
