emilygrose97
Duck vs Duck
I took this picture of the ducks at Hugh McCrae Park in a small pond. These ducks are known as Mallard/Wild Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). The duck with the green colored head is the male while the brown ducks are the females. This group (paddling) of ducks shows intraspecific competition. Intraspecific competition is a struggle between members of the same species. The male drake aggressively competes with other mallards to find a mating pair. Establishing mating pairs is an example of monogamy (only one mate) even though the birds have a tendency to copulate with other mates. This picture is interesting in particular because it shows two females and one male (polygyny). With the intraspecific competition, usually there are more males than females who are left behind not able to mate after they lose in fights. This direct fighting is an example of contest, interference competition because individuals have all or none access to the mates and there is direct interaction. Overall, this competition affects reproduction with the selectivity and fighting between mates which reduces the amount of mates each mallard has, reducing the genetic variation. It is so interesting that there are so many ecological concepts and terms in a small pond in a neighboring park.
sources: Borrett slides (intraspecific competition)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard#Breeding
Duck vs Duck
I took this picture of the ducks at Hugh McCrae Park in a small pond. These ducks are known as Mallard/Wild Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). The duck with the green colored head is the male while the brown ducks are the females. This group (paddling) of ducks shows intraspecific competition. Intraspecific competition is a struggle between members of the same species. The male drake aggressively competes with other mallards to find a mating pair. Establishing mating pairs is an example of monogamy (only one mate) even though the birds have a tendency to copulate with other mates. This picture is interesting in particular because it shows two females and one male (polygyny). With the intraspecific competition, usually there are more males than females who are left behind not able to mate after they lose in fights. This direct fighting is an example of contest, interference competition because individuals have all or none access to the mates and there is direct interaction. Overall, this competition affects reproduction with the selectivity and fighting between mates which reduces the amount of mates each mallard has, reducing the genetic variation. It is so interesting that there are so many ecological concepts and terms in a small pond in a neighboring park.
sources: Borrett slides (intraspecific competition)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard#Breeding