The population consequences of territorial behavior

Many organisms compete for space, or for resources that are linked to space. Territorial behavior in animals is one expression of competition for space. Models of competition for space seek to predict how the arrangement of individuals in a population changes as new individuals appear, others die, and neighbors interact with each other; studies of territorial behavior examine how neighbor interactions lead animals to establish and maintain their use of space. In recent work on competition for space and on territorial behavior, there has been a shift from simple, general models to ones that incorporate heterogeneity in the spatial and temporal distribution of resources, and in the ways individuals use resources.