competitive exclusion principle

The competitive exclusion principle states that two species competing for the same limited resources cannot coexist indefinitely in the same habitat. If one species is slightly better suited to utilize those resources, it will outcompete and eventually replace the other. This means that only one species can dominate in a specific niche, leading either to the coexistence of species with different resource needs or to the dominance of one species over the other. Essentially, no two species can occupy the exact same ecological role without one eventually outcompeting the other.