Discuss briefly about competitive release.
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Competitive Release
Competitive release occurs when one of two species competing for the same resource disappears, thereby allowing the remaining competitor to utilize the resource more fully than it could in the presence of the first species. The classic study demonstrating competitive release is Joseph Connell’s (1961) study of competition for space between the barnacle species Balanus and Chthamalus in the intertidal zone on the rocky Scottish coast.
Barnacles are sessile organisms in the adult stage. Larval barnacles attach to a substrate and grow into adults in that spot. Connell documented that Balanus (blue barnacles in the left figure below) normally occupies the intertidal zone, while Chthamalus (brown barnacles in the left figure below) normally occupies the coast above high tide. When Connell experimentally removed Balanus, Chthamalus colonized the intertidal zone (right figure below) and overgrew any new Balanus that settled there, thus excluding Balanus from successful establishment in the intertidal zone. The experimental removal of Balanus allowed Chthamalus to undergo competitive release (relief from competition). Thus, in the presence of Balanus, Chthamalus can occupy only its realized niche (above high tide), but when Balanus is absent, Chthamalus can occupy its fundamental niche (above high tide and the intertidal zone).
Literature Cited
Connell, J. (1961). The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology, 42, 710–743.
Competitive release occurs when one of two species competing for the same resource disappears, thereby allowing the remaining competitor to utilize the resource more fully than it could in the presence of the first species. The classic study demonstrating competitive release is Joseph Connell’s (1961) study of competition for space between the barnacle species Balanus and Chthamalus in the intertidal zone on the rocky Scottish coast.
Barnacles are sessile organisms in the adult stage. Larval barnacles attach to a substrate and grow into adults in that spot. Connell documented that Balanus (blue barnacles in the left figure below) normally occupies the intertidal zone, while Chthamalus (brown barnacles in the left figure below) normally occupies the coast above high tide. When Connell experimentally removed Balanus, Chthamalus colonized the intertidal zone (right figure below) and overgrew any new Balanus that settled there, thus excluding Balanus from successful establishment in the intertidal zone. The experimental removal of Balanus allowed Chthamalus to undergo competitive release (relief from competition). Thus, in the presence of Balanus, Chthamalus can occupy only its realized niche (above high tide), but when Balanus is absent, Chthamalus can occupy its fundamental niche (above high tide and the intertidal zone).
Literature Cited
Connell, J. (1961). The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology, 42, 710–743.
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Competitive Release :
1. It refers to the phenomenon where the distribution of species is only in a small area of geography.
2. This happens because of the presence of species that is superior.
3. When the particular competitive species is removed cometely, then the other species that are not superior begins to expand.
This is a brief description of competitive release.
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