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Life scientists define competition as the interaction which occurs between living organisms when there is demand for a common resource such as food, space or a mate. Competition is an important type of interaction between the members of a biological community: in a hypothetical situation where there are limitless resources, the population increases indefinitely. Since, in reality, resources are finite and variable, a point is inevitably reached at which competition occurs. The individuals or species which are more successful in this competition will have a better chance of reproducing successfully than their competitors; this is the principle behind natural selection. Between species, competition for a niche appears inevitably to result in success for only one species—this is the competitive exclusion principle. Where two or more species do appear to occupy the same niche, it is usually found that minor habitat differences enable the two to avoid direct competition. Animals have evolved complex behavioural strategies for competition; this is well illustrated by competition for mates. Human manipulation of the environment is often based in removing competitors so that a desirable species can flourish in a niche which would normally be occupied by a different species. In some cases, biological control has been facilitated by the introduction of new competitors from geographically distant communities.
In economics, competition arises in situations where there is more than one seller in a market or, on the buyer\'s side, more than one buyer in a market. Competition is not black and white; there are shades between pure competition and pure monopoly. Perfect competition, for economic theorists, is an idyllic state with a large number of sellers and buyers, with a homogeneous good and free entry to the market. No buyer or seller is big enough to affect the price through his or her purchases or sales, so all are price takers. If firms make supernormal profits (that is, more than the minimum needed to keep them in business) more firms enter, competing the price down. In the real world there are few perfectly competitive markets. RB TF
See also guild.Further reading Joseph Moran, Introduction to Environmental Science. |
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