Niche Overlap & Competitive Exclusion Simulator

Five competing species sit at fixed positions along a single shared resource axis, each with a Gaussian resource-utilization curve of adjustable breadth and spacing. Their populations evolve under a real Lotka–Volterra competition model, integrated with RK4 every frame, where the strength of competition between any two species is computed from the geometric overlap of their niches using the MacArthur–Levins formula. Pull niches apart or narrow them and populations settle at carrying capacity — coexistence. Crowd them together and the classic result of Gause's competitive exclusion principle appears: the weaker competitors are driven toward extinction while the strongest holds the shared resource. A live instanced heat-bar row shows the combined resource demand actually drawn from the environment as populations shift.