All organisms require resources for growth, survival, and reproduction. However, when two or more organisms require the same limited resource to survive, competition will occur. There are two types of competition. Intraspecific competition occurs between organisms of the same species. In contrast, interspecific competition occurs between organisms from different species. The two mechanisms used in competition are called interference and exploitative competition. Interference competition is when an organism directly interacts with another organism by fighting for limited resources. In exploitative competition, organisms use an indirect approach by consuming the limited resource. Plants compete with one another by using interference competition.
