Question

State gause's competitive exclusion principle.

Answer 1

Hint:-As the name suggests, Gause's competitive exclusion principle states that two species that use the same resources, will compete for limited resources in the same environment and cannot stably coexist.

Complete step-by-step solution:-In ecology, the competitive exclusion principle or Gauss law or Gauses competitive exclusion principle is given by an ecologist named Georgy Gause. He states that when two species use the same resources, they will compete for the same limited resource and cannot coexist at constant population values. When one species has advantage over another, it will dominate means one species is more powerful and uses more resources than other species. This leads either to the extinction of the weaker competitor due to lack of resources or an evolutionary shift (behavioural) toward a different ecological niche.There are two types of competitive exclusion principle:
Interspecific Competition: it occurs between different species.
Intraspecific Competition: it occurs between the same species.
For example, Abingdon tortoise in Galapagos Islands became extinct within a decade after goats were
introduced on that island, it occurred due to the greater browsing efficiency of the goats. Due to greater
browsing efficiency of the goat they use more food and less food left for the tortoise. So, they became
extinct.Other example of competitive exclusion is, the gray squirrels replace the red squirrels in Britain because of the lack of hazelnuts, competitive exclusion, and some diseases. Gray squirrels adapted to the environment and replaced the red squirrels.

Note:-
The credit of competitive exclusion principle is given to Georgii Gause, although he actually never formulated it. The principle of competitive exclusion is actually given by Darwin as it is already present in
Darwin's theory of natural selection.