Talk:Competitive Lotka–Volterra equations

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The Kondoh and Ackland & Gallagher papers[edit]

The Kondoh 2003 paper and the Ackland & Gallagher 2004 paper both model the evolution of Lotka-Volterra foodweb (predator-prey) dynamics, not LV competition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.206.7.16 (talk) 22:42, 2 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What do the equations model?[edit]

Now, it says they are "a simple model of the population dynamics of species competing for some common resource" (my italics). This is an error. The model is a phenomenological model of competition, in that they model the phenomenon of competition, and not the underlying mechanisms that bring it about. The equations might as well model interference competition, e.g. direct interaction through aggression. And more importantly, if they model resource competition, in general it is competition for several resources, not just a single one. This is a important distinction, as several important results, where the Lotka-Volterra equations where derived from models with explicit resources, one of which due to Alfred Lotka himself, show that sustained coexistence is not possible when competition is for a single resource. OpenScience (talk) 12:36, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]