In the 1930s, the Soviet ecologist G. F. Gause performed a series of experiments on

Chapter 11, Problem 23

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In the 1930s, the Soviet ecologist G. F. Gause performed a series of experiments on competition among two yeasts with populations P1 and P2, respectively. By performing population studies at low density in large volumes, he determined what he called the coefficients of geometric increase (and we would call continuous exponential growth rates). These coefficients described the growth of each yeast alone: 1 P1 dP1 dt = 0.2 1 P2 dP2 dt = 0.06 where P1 and P2 are measured in units that Gause established. He also determined that, in his units, the carrying capacity of P1 was 13 and the carrying capacity of P2 was 6. He then observed that one P2 occupies the niche space of 3 P1 and that one P1 occupied the niche space of 0.4 P2. This led him to the following differential equations to describe the interaction of P1 and P2: dP1 dt = 0.2P1 13 (P1 + 3P2) 13 dP2 dt = 0.06P2 6 (P2 + 0.4P1) 6 . When both yeasts were growing together, Gause recorded the data in Table 11.10. Ta