Abstract
ANDREWARTHA1 has criticized an equation which he wrongly designates my “equation for intraspecific competition”. Actually, it simply represents symbolically the necessary conditions for equilibrium in a postulated simple situation, other equations being given for other simple situations. His conclusion that “the equation is a tautology” is wholly due to his unjustifiable assumption that this equation is intended to represent the operation of competition.
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References
Andrewartha, H. G., Nature, 183, 200 (1959).
Nicholson, A. J., Aust. J. Zool., 2, 1 (1954).
Nicholson, A. J., Proc. Eighth Internat. Congr. Entomol., Stockholm, 277 (1948); Nature, 165, 476 (1950); 173, 862 (1954); Cold Spring Harbor Symposia, 22, 153 (1957).
Nicholson, A. J., “Ann. Rev. Entom.”, 3, 108 (1958).
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NICHOLSON, A. Density-Dependent Factors in Ecology. Nature 183, 911–912 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/183911b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/183911b0
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