Summary
A simple model is proposed to describe competition between two species on an environmental gradiant. There are two verious of the model. One, which explains the gradual blending of adjacent zones sometimes found in zoned vegetation, postulates the existence of transition zones in which species can coexist in stable equilibrium. The other, which explains abrupt zonatlon, postulates the existence of transition zones in which the equilibrium is unstable.
A method of simulating the operation of the model is given. It allows for different intensities of within- and between-species competition in the different age classes of the competitors.
Some numerical results obtained by simulation are described. They suggest some predictions concerning the age distributions to be expected during the successional stages occurring while an area with a strong environmental gradient is being colonized. Temporary species-populations (destined to be the victims of competitive exclusion) tended to have disproportionately large numbers of young members for a longer time than winning populations, whose age distributions approached stability comparatively fast.
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© 1974 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg
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Pielou, E.C. (1974). Competition on an Environmental Gradient. In: van den Driessche, P. (eds) Mathematical Problems in Biology. Lecture Notes in Biomathematics, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45455-4_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45455-4_27
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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