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Darwin's Theory Of Overpopulation

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The struggle for existence is a widely known concept, and a term famously used by Charles Darwin in his writings. The struggle for existence refers to the many organisms on Earth and their constant competition with each other. One of the many ways life struggles with each other is overpopulation. Overpopulation is when one species grows rapidly or more than normal, over some short amount of time. In one of Darwin’s writings, we have to “... give it some advantage over a different set of competitors or enemies.” This means that in order for a species to be overpopulated it has to be favored or have an advantage over its competitors in some way. If one species is favored over all the other species in the same ecosystem, the population will increase rapidly. Every species and organism in the same ecosystem will interact and compete with each other. Darwin says that all organisms are “...all striving to increase, and all feeding on each other”. The growth of one species is determined by all of the other species living in the same ecosystem, acting as each other’s checks. An overpopulated species will affect the population of other species, however, the population should be checked soon. These checks can be factors such as not enough food or diseases and illnesses. An example of this would be if we say that the overpopulation of …show more content…

For example, now coyotes are in every state in the United States except Hawaii. The coyotes were able to spread without any consequences and are able to eat almost anything. Coyotes also have no natural predators, especially with the decrease in the wolf population. Without predators to keep the population in check, invasive species are allowed to grow without much competition. If an invasive species does not die off due to an unfamiliar environment the species will quickly become overpopulated, affecting every other species in that

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