Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Competitive Exclusion in Herbaceous Vegetation

Abstract

IN maintaining or reconstructing types of herbaceous vegetation in which the density of flowering plants exceeds 20 species/m2—the so-called “species-rich” communities, success is often frustrated by competitive exclusion. Here I describe an attempt to identify criteria with which to assess or anticipate the effect of competitive exclusion both at individual sites and in different types of vegetation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Olsen, C., J. Ecol., 9, 1 (1921).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Greig-Smith, P., J. Ecol., 36, 339 (1948).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Monsi, M., and Saeki, T., Jap. J. Bot., 14, 22 (1953).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Watt, A. S., J. Ecol., 43, 490 (1955).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Black, J. N., Aust. J. Agric. Res., 9, 299 (1958).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Donald, C. M., Aust. J. Agric. Res., 9, 421 (1958).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Thurston, J. M., Ann. Appl. Biol., 47, 716 (1959).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Black, J. N., Aust. J. Agric. Res., 11, 277 (1960).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Palmer, J. H., and Sagar, G. R., J. Ecol., 51, 783 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ellenberg, H., Vegetation Mitteleuropas mit den Alpen, in Kausaler, Dynamischer und Historischer Sicht. (Stuttgart, 1963).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Willis, A. J., J. Ecol., 51, 353 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Grime, J. P., J. Ecol., 51, 391 (1963).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Smith, C. J., Elston, J., and Bunting, A. H., J. Br. Grassld. Soc., 26, 213 (1971).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Maarel, E. Van der, in The Scientific Management of Animal and Plant Communities for Conservation (edit. by Duffey, E., and Watt, A. S.), 45 (Blackwell, Oxford, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Clapham, A. R., Tutin, T. G., and Warburg, E. F., Flora of the British Isles (Cambridge, 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Clarkson, D. T., J. Ecol., 55, 111 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Higgs, D. E. B., and James, D. B., J. Ecol., 57, 553 (1969).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Pigott, C. F., and Taylor, K., J. Ecol., 52 (Suppl.), 175 (1964).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Grime, J. P., in Light as an Ecological Factor (edit. by Bainbridge, R., Evans, G. C., and Rackham, O.), 187 (Blackwell, Oxford, 1966).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hutchinson, T. C., J. Ecol., 55, 291 (1967).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Loach, K., New Phytol., 66, 607 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Parsons, R. F., Oecologia Plantarum, 3, 121 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Parsons, R. F., Amer. Nat., 102, 595 (1968).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Newhouse, M. E., and Madgwick, H. A. I., Forest Sci., 14, 27 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Loach, K., New Phytol., 69, 273 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Tansley, A. G., and Adamson, R. S., J. Ecol., 13, 177 (1925).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Hope-Simpson, J. F., J. Ecol., 28, 386 (1940).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Jeffrey, D. W., in The Scientific Management of Animal and Plant Communities for Conservation (edit. by Duffey, E., and Watt, A. S.), 79 (Blackwell, Oxford, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Yemm, E. W., and Willis, A. J., Weed Research, 2, 24 (1962).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Odum, E. P., Ecology (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1963).

  31. de Boer, T. A., and Ferrari, T. J., Versl. Landb. Onderz., 62, 1 (1957).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Bradshaw, A. D., Chadwick, M. J., Jowett, D., and Snaydon, R. W., J. Ecol., 52, 665 (1964).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Kruijne, A. A., Jaarb. Inst. Biol. Scheik. Onderz. Landb., 175 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  34. Hunt, R., thesis, Univ. of Sheffield (1970).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

GRIME, J. Competitive Exclusion in Herbaceous Vegetation. Nature 242, 344–347 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/242344a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/242344a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing