Some Notes on Estimating the Competition Matrix, a

EcologyPublished 1 May 1975

Robert M. May

DOI10.2307/1935511

Source URL

Citations213

SJR quartileQ1

SJR score2.04

SNIP1.53

TL;DR

Some little-known properties of these forms for estimating competition matrix elements, aij, from utilization coefficients pia (which measure the relative utilization of the ath resource category by the ith species) are discussed.

Abstract

Recent theoretical and field work on communities of interacting species has employed various forms for estimating the competition matrix elements, α i j , from utilization coefficients p i a (which measure the relative utilization of the path resource category by the ith species). Some little—known properties of these forms are discussed. When more than one resource dimension is involved, there is in general no substitute for measuring the species' full multidimensional utilization functions; a critical discussion is given of the estimation of such multidimensional competition coefficient α i j by products of one—dimensional coefficients.

Keywords

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