Criticism of invalidation of principle of competitive exclusion

Abstract

AYALA has written of the so-called "experimental invalidation of the principle of competitive exclusion", describing experiments on competition between two species, Drosophila serrata and D. pseudoobscura1. He observed that two species of Drosophila competing for limited resources of food and space can coexist. He says that there is direct evidence that D. serrata is superior in competitive fitness to D. pseudoobscura at the larval stage (solid phase of the environment), but inferior to it at the adult stage (aerial phase of the environment). © 1970 Nature Publishing Group.