Competition

The interaction of individuals to acquire resources, in particular those which are of limited availability, from their environment. Individuals that can extract and deplete limited resources at a greater rate than other individuals will typically be able to out-compete and reduce or eliminate other individuals.

The prevailing conditions in an environment can significantly influence the competitive ability of individuals. For example, very acidic (e.g. pH 4.5-5.0) soil will provide a condition in which some individuals will typically be much less competitive than where, for example, the soil pH is 6.0 – 6.5, because of a significant reduction in the availability of many nutrients. Individuals which can survive and grow adequately on low nutrient requirements, at relatively high soil pH values, will be more competitive than other individuals that struggle to survive in such a condition.

Competition between individuals of the same species is called intraspecific competition, whilst competition between different species is called interspecific competition.