competitive exclusion principle
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competitive exclusion principle
n.
The ecological principle that when two species compete for the same critical resources within an environment, one of them will eventually outcompete and displace the other. Also called Gause's law.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.