Georgii Frantsevich Gause

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Georgii Frantsevitch Gause (Георгий Францевич Гаузе) (December 27, 1910–May 4, 1986), more correctly transliterated but less often spelled Gauze in the Latin alphabet, was the Russian biologist who discovered the competitive exclusion principle, fundamental to the science of ecology.

This principle asserts that no two species can coexist indefinitely on the same limiting resource.

Intuitively, this means that when two species compete for exactly the same food requirements, one will be at least slightly more efficient than the other and will produce more offspring as a result. Soon the other species will die out in the area.

Gause discovered this when studying microscopic lifeforms in a test tube, but it applies equally to any type of life.