Abstract
CONSTRUCTION of simple models for systems in which species compete for limited resources has been aided recently by Ayala's1-3 series of experiments with Drosophila. The main conclusion of these experiments is that the competition is not explained by the simple Volterra-Gause-Witt4,5 equationsandwhere rt is the innate rate of increase of species i, Ni is the number of the species at a given time, Ki is the saturation level of the species when only one species is present, βi, is the coefficient of competition, and the subscripts i have the values 1 or 2. This model permits stable populations for the two species only in the region of the N1N2 plane above the line L joining the single-species equilibria, in contrast to some of the data which indicate stable populations below this line.
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COLEMAN, T., GOMATAM, J. Application of a New Model of Species Competition to Drosophila. Nature New Biology 239, 251–253 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio239251a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/newbio239251a0