Ask a Teacher

Search



what is meant by 'competitive release'?
The term competitive release refers to a situation in which an organism or species is relieved of the stresses associated with competition allowing it to become more successful and dominant in its habitat. For example, by the early 1950s the American chestnut ( Castanea dentata) had been eliminated as a dominant canopy species in deciduous forests of eastern North America by the accidental introduction of a fungal pathogen known as chestnut blight (Endothia parasitica).


comments powered by Disqus