Direct competition experiments reveal interspecies dominance obscured in the field

Evidence

Oftentimes, an abrupt pattern in nature is caused by an interaction between species, such as territorial defense or one tree species shading out another. The pattern I was observing might well be the result of some competitive “line in the sand” between Conocephalum and Fissidens . I gave the two species a chance to tell me about their relationship, by growing them side by side in the greenhouse. Alone, Fissidens did fine. Conocephalum, likewise. But when they were grown together there was clear evidence of a power struggle, which was consistently lost by Fissidens. Time after time, Conocephalum extended its snaky thallus over the top of diminutive Fissidens, completely engulfing it. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 294

Categorization

• DEFINE: Laboratory manipulation as a way of letting species reveal their relationship rather than inferring it.
• XREF: connects to: Species differ sharply in flood tolerance that explains their cliff elevation — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 296; Similar species can only coexist by diverging in some essential ecological way — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 362; Preexisting group interactions can violate statistical independence assumptions in field studies (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Similar species can only coexist by diverging in some essential ecological way #expands (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 362
• Preexisting group interactions can violate statistical independence assumptions in field studies #complicates (0.80)
• Intergroup competition boosts intragroup cohesion while shared tasks restore cooperation #complicates (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 136