question: gause's experiments

[Keith Bradnam]

Bob Sanders <rsanders at nimbus.ocis.temple.edu> wrote in message
news:3725FE8F.2124 at nimbus.ocis.temple.edu...
> Competetive exclusion principle
>
> David Ritterbusch wrote:
> >
> > I am looking for a scientific term. Gause made some investigations
> > on Paramecium and found out that, putting together two species with
> > similar ecologic demands, only one will survive. He formulated a
> > hypothesis called something similar like 'principle of exclusion'.
> > What is the correct  name of this hypothesis in english?

As I recall from my days as an Ecology student, it is the 'competitve
exclusion
principle'.  Namely, that if two organisms share the same niche within
an environment, then only one will prevail.  I'm not sure how accepted that
is
these days, I guess it depends on how stringent you are in defining what a
niche is.

Keith Bradnam