Download or read book Competition written by P.A. Keddy and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 565 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Competition is one of the most important factors controlling the distribution and abundance of living creatures. Sperm cells racing up reproductive tracts, beetle larvae battling inside single seeds, birds defending territories, and trees interfering with the light available to neighbours, are all engaged in competition for limited resources. Along with predation and mutualism, competition is one of the three major biological forces that assemble living communities. Recent experimental work, much of it only from the last few decades, has enhanced human knowledge of the prevalence of competition in nature. There are acacia trees that use ants to damage vines, beetles that compete in arenas for access to dung balls, tadpoles that apparently poison their neighbours, birds that smash the eggs of potential competitors, and plants that associate with fungi in order to increase access to soil resources. While intended as an up-to-date reference work on the state of this branch of ecology, the many non-technical examples will make interesting reading for those with a general interest in nature. Greatly expanded from the first prize-winning edition, there are entirely new chapters, including one on resources and another on competition gradients in nature. The author freely ranges across all major taxonomic groups in search of evidence. The question of whether competition occurs is no longer useful, the author maintains; rather the challenge is to determine when and where each kind of competition is important in natural systems. For this reason, variants of competition such as intensity, asymmetry and hierarchies are singled out for particular attention. The book concludes with the difficulties of finding general principles in complex ecological communities, and illustrates the limitations on knowledge that arise out of the biased conduct of scientists themselves. Competition can be found elsewhere in living systems other than ecological communities, at sub-microscopic scales in the interactions of enzymes and neural pathways, and over large geographic areas in the spread of human populations and contrasting ideas about the world. Human societies are therefore also examined for evidence of the kinds of competition found among other living organisms. Using an array of historical examples, including Biblical conflicts, the use of noblemen's sons in the Crusades, the Viking raids in Europe, strategic bombing campaigns in the Second World War, and ethnic battles of the Balkans, the book illustrates how most of the aspects of competition illustrated with plants and animals can be extended to the interactions of human beings and their societies.
Download or read book Resource Competition written by James P. Grover and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As one of the most quantitative of ecological subdisciplines, resource competition is an important, central area of ecology. Recently research into this area has increased dramatically and resource competition models have become more complex. The characterisation of this phenomenon is therefore the aim of this book. Resource Competition seeks to identify the unifying principles emerging from experimental and theoretical approaches as well as the differences between organisms, illustrating that greater knowledge of resource competition will benefit human and environmental welfare. This book will serve as an indispensable guide to ecologists, evolutionary biologists and environmental managers, and all those interested in resource competition as an emerging discipline.
Download or read book Competition Models in Population Biology written by Paul Waltman and published by SIAM. This book was released on 1983-01-01 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book uses fundamental ideas in dynamical systems to answer questions of a biologic nature, in particular, questions about the behavior of populations given a relatively few hypotheses about the nature of their growth and interaction. The principal subject treated is that of coexistence under certain parameter ranges, while asymptotic methods are used to show competitive exclusion in other parameter ranges. Finally, some problems in genetics are posed and analyzed as problems in nonlinear ordinary differential equations.
Download or read book The Competition written by Paul Keddy and published by Springer. This book was released on 1989-05-25 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The role of competition within communities, in shaping the structure and composition of the community matrix itself and in influencing day to day functioning of the system is particularly controversial.
Download or read book Mechanisms in Biological Competition written by Society for Experimental Biology (Great Britain) and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Resource Competition and Community Structure MPB 17 Volume 17 written by David Tilman and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the central questions of ecology is why there are so many different kinds of plants and animals. Here David Tilman presents a theory of how organisms compete for resources and the way their competition promotes diversity. Developing Hutchinson's suggestion that the main cause of diversity is the feeding relations of species, this book builds a mechanistic, resource-based explanation of the structure and functioning of ecological communities. In a detailed analysis of the Park Grass Experiments at the Rothamsted Experimental Station in England, the author demonstrates that the dramatic results of these 120 years of experimentation are consistent with his theory, as are observations in many other natural communities. The consumer-resource approach of this book is applicable to both animal and plant communities, but the majority of Professor Tilman's discussion concentrates on the structure of plant communities. All theoretical arguments are developed graphically, and formal mathematics is kept to a minimum. The final chapters of the book provide some testable speculations about resources and animal communities and explore such problems as the evolution of "super species," the differences between plant and animal community diversity patterns, and the cause of plant succession.
Download or read book Competition and Coexistence written by Ulrich Sommer and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question "Why are there so many species?" has puzzled ecologist for a long time. Initially, an academic question, it has gained practical interest by the recent awareness of global biodiversity loss. Species diversity in local ecosystems has always been discussed in relation to the problem of competi tive exclusion and the apparent contradiction between the competitive exclu sion principle and the overwhelming richness of species found in nature. Competition as a mechanism structuring ecological communities has never been uncontroversial. Not only its importance but even its existence have been debated. On the one extreme, some ecologists have taken competi tion for granted and have used it as an explanation by default if the distribu tion of a species was more restricted than could be explained by physiology and dispersal history. For decades, competition has been a core mechanism behind popular concepts like ecological niche, succession, limiting similarity, and character displacement, among others. For some, competition has almost become synonymous with the Darwinian "struggle for existence", although simple plausibility should tell us that organisms have to struggle against much more than competitors, e.g. predators, parasites, pathogens, and envi ronmental harshness.
Download or read book Plant Competition in a Changing World written by Judy Simon and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2017-06-22 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Competitiveness describes a key ability important for plants to grow and survive abiotic and biotic stresses. Under optimal, but particularly under non-optimal conditions, plants compete for resources including nutrients, light, water, space, pollinators and other. Competition occurs above- and belowground. In resource-poor habitats, competition is generally considered to be more pronounced than in resource-rich habitats. Although competition occurs between different players within an ecosystem such as between plants and soil microorganisms, our topic focusses on plant-plant interactions and includes inter-specific competition between different species of similar and different life forms and intra-specific competition. Strategies for securing resources via spatial or temporal separation and different resource needs generally reduce competition. Increasingly important is the effect of invasive plants and subsequent decline in biodiversity and ecosystem function. Current knowledge and future climate predictions suggest that in some situations competition will be intensified with occurrence of increased abiotic (e.g. water and nutrient limitations) and biotic stresses (e.g. mass outbreak of insects), but competition might also decrease in situations where plant productivity and survival declines (e.g. habitats with degraded soils). Changing interactions, climate change and biological invasions place new challenges on ecosystems. Understanding processes and mechanisms that underlie the interactions between plants and environmental factors will aid predictions and intervention. There is much need to develop strategies to secure ecosystem services via primary productivity and to prevent the continued loss of biodiversity. This Research Topic provides an up-to-date account of knowledge on plant-plant interactions with a focus on identifying the mechanisms underpinning competitive ability. The Research Topic aims to showcase knowledge that links ecological relevance with physiological processes to better understanding plant and ecosystem function.
Download or read book Mechanisms in Biological Competition written by and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interspecific Competition in Birds written by André A. Dhondt and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a current, critical review of the importance of interspecific competition, considering the evolutionary effects of interspecific competition, its importance in structuring communities, and influence on the traits of individual species.
Download or read book Dynamical Systems and Their Applications in Biology written by Shigui Ruan and published by American Mathematical Soc.. This book was released on 2003 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is based on the proceedings of the International Workshop on Dynamical Systems and their Applications in Biology held at the Canadian Coast Guard College on Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia, Canada). It presents a broad picture of the current research surrounding applications of dynamical systems in biology, particularly in population biology. The book contains 19 papers and includes articles on the qualitative and/or numerical analysis of models involving ordinary, partial, functional, and stochastic differential equations. Applications include epidemiology, population dynamics, and physiology. The material is suitable for graduate students and research mathematicians interested in ordinary differential equations and their applications in biology. Also available by Ruan, Wolkowicz, and Wu is Differential Equations with Applications to Biology, Volume 21 in the AMS series Fields Institute Communications.
Download or read book Mechanisms in Biological Competition written by Society for Experimental Biology (Great and published by Hassell Street Press. This book was released on 2021-09-09 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book How to prepare for the biology olympiad written by Martyna Petrulyte and published by Martyna Petrulyte. This book was released on 2019-05-09 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science competitions test a student’s level of knowledge, power of scientific reasoning, and analytical thinking outside of the regular school curriculum. A systematic approach and smart study regimen are both required to get good results in science competitions. In this book, you will find many tips and tricks for how to study and prepare for science olympiads. Moreover, you will learn how to: • boost your motivation • cope with failures and anxiety before the tests • defeat procrastination • manage your time • memorize information quicker and more effectively • organize your study material • read a science textbook • plan your study schedule • develop practical skills • get into and survive in the lab. Furthermore, you will find essential test-taking strategies for tackling the olympiad exams and example-based tips on how to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Download or read book No Contest written by Alfie Kohn and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1992 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that competition is inherently destructive and that competitive behavior is culturally induced, counter-productive, and causes anxiety, selfishness, self-doubt, and poor communication.
Download or read book Mechanisms in Biological Competition 15 written by Society for Experimental Biology (Great and published by Hassell Street Press. This book was released on 2021-09-09 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book The Survival Game written by David P. Barash, Ph.D. and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2004-09-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a zoologist and psychologist, an astonishing look at the biological and strategic roots of human decisions Humans, like bacteria, woodchucks, chimpanzees, and other animals, compete or cooperate in order to get food, shelter, territory, and other resources to survive. But how do they decide whether to muscle out or team up with the competition? In The Survival Game, David P. Barash synthesizes the newest ideas from psychology, economics, and biology to explore and explain the roots of human strategy. Drawing on game theory-the study of how individuals make decisions-he explores the give-and-take of spouses in determining an evening's plans, the behavior of investors in a market bubble, and the maneuvers of generals on a battlefield alongside the mating and fighting strategies of "less rational" animals. Ultimately, Barash's lively and clear examples shed light on what makes our decisions human, and what we can glean from game theory and the natural world as we negotiate and compete every day.
Download or read book Mechanisms in Biological Competition fifteenth Symposium of the Society for Experimental Biology Bristol 1960 written by SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY. Symposium, 15th, Bristol, 1960 and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
