Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Patterson I.J. (1980) Territorial behaviour and the limitation of population density. ARDEA 68 (1-4): 53-62
There is considerable evidence, from removal experiments and from the addition of resources, that territorial behaviour can and does limit population density. In short-term territory systems there is also evidence that territorial behaviour varies with resource level so as to change density in relation to resources. Hypotheses on the mechanism of this, involving an interaction between the territorial aggressiveness of initial settlers and the persistence and aggressiveness of later arrivals and non-territorial individuals, are discussed in detail. Species with long-term territorial systems seem not to change their aggressiveness or territory size in response to short-term changes in resource abundance. In such species, any adjustment of territory size to resource level must be carried out over a long period and more study is needed of the mechanisms involved.


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