R* rule (ecology)

A bear with a salmon. Interspecific interactions such as predation are a key aspect of community ecology.

Hypothesis in community ecology that attempts to predict which species will become dominant as the result of competition for resources.

- R* rule (ecology)

4 related topics

Relevance

Universal adaptive strategy theory

Evolutionary theory developed by J. Philip Grime in collaboration with Simon Pierce describing the general limits to ecology and evolution based on the trade-off that organisms face when the resources they gain from the environment are allocated between either growth, maintenance or regeneration – known as the universal three-way trade-off.

Plants with an S-strategy: In the foreground Juncus effusus, and behind that Vaccinium uliginosum, Athyrium filix-femina and Betula pubescens. Bog habitat in Tversted Plantation, Denmark.

Understanding the differences between the CSR theory and its major alternative the R* theory has been a major goal in community ecology for many years.

Size-asymmetric competition

Size-asymmetric competition refers to situations in which larger individuals exploit disproportionately greater amounts of resources when competing with smaller individuals.

A steam turbine with the case opened. Such turbines produce most of the electricity used today. Electricity consumption and living standards are highly correlated.

Contrasting assumptions about size-asymmetry characterise the two leading and competing theories in plant ecology, the R* theory and the CSR theory.

Invader potential

Qualitative and quantitative measures of a given invasive species probability to invade a given ecosystem.

This is shown directly through Tilman's R* rule.

Plant strategies

Plant strategies include mechanisms and responses plants use to reproduce, defend, survive, and compete on the landscape.

Here the relation between genotype and phenotype is illustrated, using a Punnett square, for the character of petal colour in a pea plant. The letters B and b represent alleles for colour and the pictures show the resultant flowers. The diagram shows the cross between two heterozygous parents where B represents the dominant allele (purple) and b represents the recessive allele (white).

G. David Tilman developed the R* rule in support of resource competition theory.