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Competition among individuals of the same species is referred to as intraspecific competition. Grasshoppers provide an animal example. By eating grass, individual grasshoppers deprive their fellow conspecifics of food. This is an example of exploitation competition, which means that the grasshoppers do not interact directly with each other, but have a negative effect on others' growth and reproduction by their effect on a resource (in this case, grass). In other cases, intraspecific competition may be a case of interference competition, in which the animals interact directly. This is the case, most notably, in territorial animals: some individuals actively prevent others from exploiting a given resource, usually food or space.
Intraspecific competition is a major factor affecting the carrying capacity of a population (maximum population level supported by the environment). The levelling of population growth at high densities (known as density dependent inhibition) can be seen as an effect of intraspecific competition. Indeed, whereas at low densities organisms do not compete for resources, at higher densities resources become limiting, and the population size can no longer increase. In terms of population growth rate, this produces a sigmoidal curve, which is a familiar sight for ecologists.
Further reading
Solomon, E. P., Berg, L. R., & Martin, D. W. (2002). Biology, sixth edition. (N. Rose, Ed.). Stamford, CT: Thomson Learning.
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