Regional Coexistence of Species and Competition between Rare Species

1971/06/01 by Richard Levins, David C. Culver · 7 citations
Social Sciences · Medicine · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics

paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.68.6.1246

openalex publication_date 1971/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15

Abstract

A model is developed for the coexistence and exclusion of species over a region of similar habitable patches. Since the balance of local extinction and colonization would leave some patches unoccupied even without competitors, species may coexist even when all the patches are the same. Regional competition coefficients are found when species affect the local extinction or migration rates of each other. Rare species can regulate each other and even exclude other species completely.

Cited by

• Ecological succession and the competition-colonization trade-off in microbial communities
• The Competition‐Colonization Trade‐off Is Dead; Long Live the Competition‐Colonization Trade‐off
• Coexistence in a metacommunity: the competition–colonization trade‐off is not dead
• On Testing the Competition‐Colonization Trade‐Off in a Multispecies Assemblage
• Disturbance in Marine Intertidal Boulder Fields: The Nonequilibrium Maintenance of Species Diversity
• Disturbance, coexistence, history, and competition for space
• Competition–colonization trade-off [wikipedia]