Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Midwater Fishes And Shrimps As Competitors And Resource Partitioning In Low Latitude Oligotrophic Ecosystems, T. L. Hopkins, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Oligotrophic tropical-subtropical oceanic regimes constitute the largest and most ancient ecosystem on earth, with these enormous areas being characterized by high faunal diversity. The stability and age of the ecosystem have enabled the evolution of many similar species niches where there is considerable overlap in niche parameters such as food and space, resulting in high species packing, especially in the epi- and mesopelagic zones. Competition for limited resources undoubtedly exists and has been described by MacArthur (1972; Geographical ecology, Harper and Row, New York) as diffuse competition where each species is impacted by many other species sharing the environment. Most …