Abstract
The identification of potential competitors has been driven by the concept of limiting similarity. Lacking are explicit tests of interaction strength among morphologically similar and dissimilar species. I used the mottled sculpin, Cottus bairdi, as a focal species in an artificial stream experiment designed to compare the effect of intraspecific competition to interspecific cometition from two very different species: a congener, the Kanawha sculpin (C. carolinae ssp.), and an unrelated species, the fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare). The differences in morphology between these two species generate specific predictions under limiting similarity regarding the likelihood of competition and its relative strength: the congener should be a more important potential competitor. Increased fish density had a strong effect on the multivariate response of survival and growth, and on the relative condition of C. bairdi, indicating competition. The effect of additional C. bairdi or Kanawha sculpins were roughly equal, but the effect of E. flabellare was significantly greater. The most important potential impact on C. bairdi came from interspecific competition by a species that is smaller and very different in morphology, contrary to predictions based on limiting similarity.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aarssen LW (1983) Ecological combining ability and competitive combining ability in plants: toward a general evolutionary theory of coexistence in systems of competition. Am Nat 122:707–731
Abrams P (1983) The theory of limiting similarity. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 14:359–376
Agren GI, Fagerstrom T (1984) Limiting dissimilarity in plants: randomness prevents exclusion of species with similar competitive abilities. Oikos 43:369–375
Bagenal TB (1978) Aspects of fish fecundity. In: Gerking SD (ed) Ecology of freshwater fish production. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 75–101
Bristow CE (1991) Interactions between phylogenetically distant predators Notophthalmus viridescens and Enneacanthus obesus. Copeia 1991:1–8
Brown JH, Davidson DW (1977) Competition between seed-eating rodents and ants in desert ecosystems. Science 196:880–882
Brown JH, Munger JC (1985) Experimental manipulation of a desert rodent community: food addition and species removal. Ecology 66:1545–1563
Burton GW, Odum EP (1945) The distribution of small stream fish in the vicinity of Mountain Lake, Virginia. Ecology 26:182–194
Connell JH (1983) On the prevalence and relative importance of interspecific competition: evidence from field experiments. Am Nat 122:661–696
Daiber FC (1956) A comparative analysis of the winter feeding habits of two benthic stream fishes. Copeia 1956:141–151
Eadie JM, Keast A (1982) Do goldeneye and perch compete for food? Oecologia 55:225–230
Fausch KD, White RJ (1986) Competition among juveniles of coho salmon, brook trout, and brown trout in a laboratory stream, and implications for Great Lakes tributaries. Trans Am Fish Soc 115:363–381
Fauth JE, Resetarits WJ Jr, Wilbur HM (1990) Interactions between larval salamanders: a case of competitive equality. Oikos 58:91–99
Gause GF (1934) The struggle for existence. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore
Greenberg L (1991) Habitat use and feeding behavior of thirteen species of benthic stream fishes. Environ Biol Fish 31:389–402
Hairston NG (1980) The experimental test of an analysis of field distributions: competition in terrestrial salamanders. Ecology 61:817–826
Hansen MJ, Gloss SP, Peckarsky BL (1986) Predator species richness and prey population variability: effects on diets of benthic stream fishes. Am Midl Nat 115:63–72
Hutchinson GE (1959) Homage to Santa Rosalia, or Why are there so many kinds of animals?. Am Nat 93:145–159
Jenkins RE, Burkhead NM (1993) The freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Md
Karr JR (1964) Age, growth, fecundity and food habits of fantail darters in Boone County, Iowa. Proc Iowa Acad Sci 71:274–280
Keddy P (1989) Competition. Chapman and Hall, London
Lotka AJ (1932) The growth of mixed populations: two species competing for a common food supply. J Wash Acad Sci 22:461–469
MacArthur RH, Levins R (1967) The limiting similarity, convergence, and divergence of coexisting species. Am Nat 101:377–385
Matheson RE Jr, Brooks GR Jr (1983) Habitat segregation between Cottus bairdi and Cottus girardi: an example of complex inter- and intraspecific resource partitioning. Am Midl Nat 110:165–176
Morin PJ, Johnson EA (1988) Experimental studies of asymmetric competition among anurans. Oikos 53:398–407
Morin PJ, Lawler SP, Johnson EA (1988) Competition between aquatic insects and vertebrates: experimental measures of interaction strength and higher order interactions. Ecology 69:1401–1409
Nagel JW (1980) Life history of the mottled sculpin, Cottus bairdi, in northeastern Tennessee. Brimeleyana 4:115–121
Paine MD, Dodson JJ, Power G (1982) Habitat and food resource partitioning among four species of darters (Percidae:Etheostoma) in a southern Ontario stream. Can J Zool 60:1635–1641
Persson L (1985) Asymmetrical competition: are larger animals competitively superior? Am Nat 126:261–266
Persson L (1988) Asymmetries in competitive and predatory interactions in fish populations. In: Ebenman B, Persson L (eds) Size-structured populations: ecology and evolution. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 203–218
Pflieger WL (1975) The fishes of Missouri. Missouri Department of Conservation. Jefferson City
Polis GA, Myers CA, Holt RD (1989) The ecology and evolution of intraguild predation: potential competitors that cat each other. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 20:297–330
Resetarits WJ Jr (1991) Ecological interactions among predators in experimental stream communities. Ecology 72:1782–1793
Resetarits WJ Jr (1995) Competitive asymmetry and coexitence in size-structured populations of brook trout and spring salamanders. Oikos 73:188–198
Root RB (1967) The niche exploitation pattern of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. Ecol Monogr 37:317–350
Ross ST (1986) Resource partitioning in fish assemblages: a review of field studies. Copeia 1986:352–388
SAS Institute (1988) SAS/STAT User's Guide, Release 6.03 edn. SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC
Schlosser IJ, Toth LA (1984) Niche relationships and population ecology of rainbow (Etheostoma caeruleum) and fantail (E. flabellare) darters in a variable environment. Oikos 42:229–238
Schoener TW (1983) Field experiments on interspecific competition. Am Nat 122:240–285
Southerland MT (1986) Coexistence of three congeneric salamanders: the importance of habitat and body size. Ecology 67:721–728
Vandermeer JH (1972) Niche theory. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 3:107–132
Volterra V (1926) Fluctuations in the abundance of a species considered mathematically. Nature 118:558–560
Werner EE, Gilliam JF (1984) The ontogenetic niche and species interactions in size-structured populations. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 15:393–425
Williams AH (1981) An analysis of competitive interactions in a patchy back-reef environment. Ecology 62:1107–1120
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Resetarits, W.J. Limiting similarity and the intensity of competitive effects on the mottled sculpin, Cottus bairdi, in experimental stream communities. Oecologia 104, 31–38 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00365559
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00365559