Question

Competition is most likely to occur:

1) when two species occupy overlapping niches
2) when two species help each other
3) when one species helps another species
4) when one species eats another species

Answer 1

Competition is most likely when two species occupy overlapping niches, leading to a struggle over shared resources and potentially to the exclusion of one species or the evolution of character displacement.

Step-by-step explanation:

Competition is most likely to occur: 1) when two species occupy overlapping niches.

Competition typically happens in a shared environment as different organisms vie for the same resources, such as food or water. This can occur either between members of the same species (intraspecific competition), which can lead to natural selection and the evolution of better adaptations within a species, or between members of different species (interspecific competition), which can result in one species outcompeting the other.

The competitive exclusion principle asserts that when two species have overlapping niches, they cannot coexist indefinitely because they will compete for the exact same resources. This intense competition can lead to the extinction of one species or the development of more specialized niches through the process of character displacement. As an example, cheetahs and lions might compete for similar prey; if the resource is scarce, it could result in one species prevailing over the other.