Question

Choose the correct option considering the statements:
A. Most recent studies point out that species facing competition might evolve mechanisms that promote co–existence rather than exclusion.
B. Gause’s competitive exclusion principle is effective when resources are in excess.

• A. Only (a) is correct.
• B. Only (b) is correct.
• C. Both (a) and (b) are correct.
• D. Both (a) and (b) are incorrect.

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

Competition does not always result in the extinction of species but causes the development of a larger number of niches. This phenomenon is called competitive co-existence. Species facing competition evolve mechanisms to promote co-existence rather than exclusion. One such mechanism is resource partitioning or resource sharing by choosing different times for feeding or different foraging patterns.
For example, Darwin found that fourteen species of finches co-exist in Galapagos islands due to the development of different feeding habits.
According to Gause's exclusion principle, "Two closely related species competing for the same resources cannot co-exist indefinitely and the competitively inferior one will be eventually eliminated."