Given below are two statements: Statement I: Gause's 'Competitive Exclusion Principle' states that two closely related species competing for the same resources cannot co- exist indefinitely and competitively inferior one will be eliminated eventually. Statement II: In general, carnivores are more adversely affected by competition than herbivores. In the light of the above statements, choose the correct an

Step-by-step solution

Competition is one of the most interesting and important population interactions which have several effects: It helps in resource partitioning. It maintains the population size. This allows the fittest to survive. Competition is a process in which the fitness of one species (measured in terms of its ‘r’ the intrinsic rate of increase) is significantly lower in the presence of another species. In general, herbivores and plants appear to be more adversely affected by competition than carnivores. Gause&rsq