Competition in Ecosystems

Bromeliads grow this way in competition for light energy that they can use for photosynthesis. By being attached to high trees, they can reach the light higher up without competing with shorter plants.

Mountain lions and coyotes compete for food resources because they both eat antelopes. Antelopes and squirrels compete as well because they both eat grass.

Black hickory and sweetgum would compete for soil in Zone 9 because they both require sandy soil with high calcium content.

An ecosystem consists of biotic factors, or organisms composed of cells, and abiotic (nonliving) factors such as temperature, sunlight, and water.

Organisms can compete over both abiotic factors, such as access to water or sunlight (plants only), or biotic factors, such as a prey that two different predators both hunt.

If one population increases, the other will most likely decrease since resources are limited.

In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other. Limited access to these resources consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.

There is a finite amount of energy sources and water available in any ecosystem. Different organisms require both of those things in order to survive; therefore, competition causes some organisms to obtain the necessary amount of resources, while others die off because they could not obtain the resources.