Outcome Of Competition Research Articles

In vitro competition between two transmissible cancers and potential implications for their host, the Tasmanian devil.

Since the emergence of a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFT1), in the 1980s, wild Tasmanian devil populations have been in decline. In 2016, a second, independently evolved transmissible cancer (DFT2) was discovered raising concerns for survival of the host species. Here, we applied experimental and modelling frameworks to examine competition dynamics between the two transmissible cancers invitro. Using representative cell lines for DFT1 and DFT2, we have found that in monoculture, DFT2 grows twice as fast as DFT1 but reaches lower maximum cell densities. Using co-cultures, we demonstrate that DFT2 outcompetes DFT1: the number of DFT1 cells decreasing over time, never reaching exponential growth. This phenomenon could not be replicated when cells were grown separated by a semi-permeable membrane, consistent with exertion of mechanical stress on DFT1 cells by DFT2. A logistic model and a Lotka-Volterra competition model were used to interrogate monoculture and co-culture growth curves, respectively, suggesting DFT2 is a better competitor than DFT1, but also showing that competition outcomes might depend on the initial number of cells, at least in the laboratory. We provide theories how the invitro results could be translated to observations in the wild and propose that these results may indicate that although DFT2 is currently in a smaller geographic area than DFT1, it could have the potential to outcompete DFT1. Furthermore, we provide a framework for improving the parameterization of epidemiological models applied to these cancer lineages, which will inform future disease management.

Dollars and megabits: A comparative analysis of Telecom and Healthcare Connect Fund

Two federal programs in the United States subsidize internet access for rural healthcare providers, namely, Healthcare Connect Fund (HCF) and the Telecom Program. HCF uses a subsidy mechanism that strongly incentivizes healthcare providers to shop for faster or cheaper internet. Telecom does not incentivize shopping. Theoretically, this predicts that HCF must achieve faster or cheaper internet than Telecom. I empirically test this question and find that Telecom subsidy recipients pay 132-179% more than HCF subsidy recipients on similar internet plans. Evidence point to Telecom's poor incentive design as the root cause. Eliminating this price gap would save American taxpayers $143 million annually. The findings highlight the power of program design, showcase the unintended consequences of misaligned incentives, and encourage policymakers to thoroughly examine program features, the impact on consumer behavior, and the effect on competition and market outcomes.

Tuning of plasma cell lifespan by competition explains the longevity and heterogeneity of antibody persistence

Plasma cells that emerge after infection or vaccination exhibit heterogeneous lifespans; most survive for days to months, whereas others persist for decades, providing antigen-specific long-term protection. We developed a mathematical framework to explore the dynamics of plasma cell removal and its regulation by survival factors. Analyses of antibody persistence following hepatitis A and B and HPV vaccination revealed specific patterns of longevity and heterogeneity within and between responses, implying that this process is fine-tuned near a critical "flat" state between two dynamic regimes. This critical state reflects the tuning of rates of the underlying regulatory network and is highly sensitive to variation in parameters, which amplifies lifespan differences between cells. We propose that fine-tuning is the generic outcome of competition over shared survival signals, with a competition-based mechanism providing a unifying explanation for a wide range of experimental observations, including the dynamics of plasma cell accumulation and the effects of survival factor deletion. Our theory is testable, and we provide specific predictions.

Constitutive expression of the Type VI Secretion System carries no measurable fitness cost in Vibrio cholerae.

The Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) is a widespread and highly effective mechanism of microbial warfare; it confers the ability to efficiently kill susceptible cells within close proximity. Due to its large physical size, complexity, and ballistic basis for intoxication, it has widely been assumed to incur significant growth costs in the absence of improved competitive outcomes. In this study, we precisely examine the fitness costs of constitutive T6SS firing in the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. We find that, contrary to expectations, constitutive expression of the T6SS has a negligible impact on growth, reducing growth fitness by 0.025 ± 0.5% (95% CI) relative to a T6SS- control. Mathematical modeling of microbial populations demonstrates that, due to clonal interference, constitutive expression of the T6SS will often be neutral, with little impact on evolutionary outcomes. Our findings underscore the importance of precisely measuring the fitness costs of microbial social behaviors and help explain the prevalence of the T6SS across Gram-negative bacteria.

Is it selfish to be filamentous in biofilms? Individual-based modeling links microbial growth strategies with morphology using the new and modular iDynoMiCS 2.0.

Microbial communities are found in all habitable environments and often occur in assemblages with self-organized spatial structures developing over time. This complexity can only be understood, predicted, and managed by combining experiments with mathematical modeling. Individual-based models are particularly suited if individual heterogeneity, local interactions, and adaptive behavior are of interest. Here we present the completely overhauled software platform, the individual-based Dynamics of Microbial Communities Simulator, iDynoMiCS 2.0, which enables researchers to specify a range of different models without having to program. Key new features and improvements are: (1) Substantially enhanced ease of use (graphical user interface, editor for model specification, unit conversions, data analysis and visualization and more). (2) Increased performance and scalability enabling simulations of up to 10 million agents in 3D biofilms. (3) Kinetics can be specified with any arithmetic function. (4) Agent properties can be assembled from orthogonal modules for pick and mix flexibility. (5) Force-based mechanical interaction framework enabling attractive forces and non-spherical agent morphologies as an alternative to the shoving algorithm. The new iDynoMiCS 2.0 has undergone intensive testing, from unit tests to a suite of increasingly complex numerical tests and the standard Benchmark 3 based on nitrifying biofilms. A second test case was based on the "biofilms promote altruism" study previously implemented in BacSim because competition outcomes are highly sensitive to the developing spatial structures due to positive feedback between cooperative individuals. We extended this case study by adding morphology to find that (i) filamentous bacteria outcompete spherical bacteria regardless of growth strategy and (ii) non-cooperating filaments outcompete cooperating filaments because filaments can escape the stronger competition between themselves. In conclusion, the new substantially improved iDynoMiCS 2.0 joins a growing number of platforms for individual-based modeling of microbial communities with specific advantages and disadvantages that we discuss, giving users a wider choice.

A competition model with impulsive interventions and environmental perturbations in moving environments

In order to understand how impulsive interventions and environmental perturbations affect dynamics of competitors, we focus on a diffusive competition model with free boundaries and periodic pulses in a temporally heterogeneous environment with upward or downward advection. The dependence of the principal eigenvalue of corresponding periodic impulsive eigenvalue problem on advection rates, habitat sizes and pulses is investigated, which gives precise conditions that classify the dynamics into four types of competition outcomes including coexistence, co-extinction, two different competition exclusions for small or negative advection rates. Some sufficient conditions on pulses or initial habitats for species spreading or vanishing, and spreading speeds are then established. Our results not only extend the existing ones to the case with pulses, but also reveal the effects of human and natural factors, that is, impulsive interventions factors including positive or negative impulsive effect, pulse intensity and timing can significantly affect and alter the competition outcomes. The different performances of the superior and inferior affected by environmental perturbations are also reflected in the simulations.

Hormonal and psychological influences on performance anxiety in adolescent female volleyball players: a multi-approach study.

The neuroendocrine system has important implications for affiliation behavior among humans and can be used to assess the correlation between social relationships, stress, and health. This can be influenced by social closeness; this aspect is the closeness towards another individual or a group of individuals such as a sports team. Sports performance anxiety is considered an unpleasant emotional reaction composed of physiological, cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. This motivates us to learn about the process that can influence the outcome of competition. Hormones and genetics would seem to influence outcome and performance. In this regard, many studies have focused on the exercise response as a function of ovarian hormones and it has been observed that progesterone is a hormone that plays a key role in reducing anxiety, and thus stress, in humans and other animals. On the other hand, high cortisol concentrations are known to contribute to increased anxiety levels. However, the salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) enzyme has been suggested as marker of acute stress than cortisol. Genetics also seem to influence anxiety and stress management as in the case of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and striatal dopamine transporter (DAT). Therefore, the study aims to investigate social closeness, as a measure of sports team cohesion that can influence athletes' performance results, and its ability to influence the secretion of hormones, such as progesterone and cortisol, that affect the management of sports anxiety while also taking into account genetic background during a volleyball match. Twenty-six female volleyball players who volunteered participated in this study (mean ± SD: age, 12.07 ± 0.7 years), and played in the final of the provincial volleyball championship in Palermo. All girls were during the ovarian cycle, in detail between the follicular and early ovulatory phases. The results showed a significant decrease in salivary cortisol only in the winning group (p < 0.039). In fact, whilst in the latter the pre-match level was 7.7 ng/ml and then decreased to 4.5 ng/ml after the match, in the losers group change was not statistically significant (7.8 ng/ml vs 6.6 ng/ml pre- and post-match). As to the sAA concentration, the winning team showed a statistically significant variation between pre- and post-match than the losers (166.01 ± 250 U/ml vs 291.59 ± 241 U/ml) (p = 0.01). Analyzing the results of the SAS-2 psychological test it is highlighted that, on average, the loser group was more anxious than the winning group, and this contributed to the final result. In conclusion, there is strong evidence supporting the state of the art that many factors can affect performance anxiety and thus the performance itself.

Transient states during the annealing of mismatched and bulged oligonucleotides.

Oligonucleotide hybridization is crucial in various biological, prebiotic and nanotechnological processes, including gene regulation, non-enzymatic primer extension and DNA nanodevice assembly. Although extensive research has focused on the thermodynamics and kinetics of nucleic acid hybridization, the behavior of complex mixtures and the outcome of competition for target binding remain less well understood. In this study, we investigate the impact of mismatches and bulges in a 12bp DNA or RNA duplex on its association (kon) and dissociation (koff) kinetics. We find that such defects have relatively small effects on the association kinetics, while the dissociation kinetics vary in a position-dependent manner by up to 6 orders of magnitude. Building upon this observation, we explored a competition scenario involving multiple oligonucleotides, and observed a transient low specificity of probe hybridization to fully versus partially complementary targets in solution. We characterize these long-lived metastable states and their evolution toward equilibrium, and show that sufficiently long-lived mis-paired duplexes can serve as substrates for prebiotically relevant chemical copying reactions. Our results suggest that transient low accuracy states may spontaneously emerge within all complex nucleic acid systems comprising a large enough number of competing strands, with potential repercussions for gene regulation in the realm of modern biology and the prebiotic preservation of genetic information.

Microbe‐induced plant resistance alters aphid inter‐genotypic competition leading to rapid evolution with consequences for plant growth and aphid abundance

Plants and insect herbivores are two of the most diverse multicellular groups in the world, and both are strongly influenced by interactions with the belowground soil microbiome. Effects of reciprocal rapid evolution on ecological interactions between herbivores and plants have been repeatedly demonstrated, but it is unknown if (and how) the soil microbiome could mediate these eco‐evolutionary processes on a shared host plant. We tested the role of a plant‐beneficial soil bacterium Acidovorax radicis in altering eco‐evolutionary interactions between different aphid genotypes (Sitobion avenae, genotypes Sickte and Fescue) feeding on barley Hordeum vulgare. We measured fecundity, longevity and population growth of two aphid genotypes reared separately or together (population mixture) on three different barley varieties that were inoculated with or without A. radicis. Results showed that across all plant varieties A. radicis increased plant growth and suppressed aphid populations via reduced longevity and fecundity. The strength of effect was dependent on aphid genotype and barley variety, while the direction of effect was altered by aphid population mixture. Using Lotka–Volterra modelling, we demonstrated that while A. radicis inoculation decreased growth rates for both aphid genotypes it increased the competitiveness of one genotype against the other. In general, in the presence of A. radicis, the Fescue aphid genotype became more inhibitory of Sickte aphids, while Sickte aphids facilitated the growth of Fescue aphids. Our work demonstrates that plant rhizosphere microbiomes exert community‐level influences by mediating eco‐evolutionary interactions between herbivores and host plants. By altering competitive interaction outcomes among aphids and thus impacting processes such as rapid evolution, soil microbes contribute to the short‐ and long‐term structure and functioning of terrestrial habitats.

Portrait of teaching English in primary school under Kurikulum Merdeka: Teachers' voices

The changes in the national curriculum in Indonesia have been regular since independence day. It is an action taken to improve the quality of education given the demands of both the era and society, as well as to prepare for more competitive outcomes. This study concerns teachers' perceptions of the current curriculum (Kurikulum Merdeka). It is important to see how it is going in the practical field, particularly in teaching English in primary schools. Six English teachers from six different schools in Indonesia took part as participants in the current study. They were interviewed in two modes, onsite and online, to share their views regarding the Merdeka curriculum implementation. The result shows that both schools and policymakers have done several things regarding implementation. Meanwhile, along with its implementation, challenges exist, including time allotment, students’ proficiency, and students' motivation. Therefore, the findings should be taken seriously to improve the quality of teaching English at the primary level. Keywords: English; primary school; Kurikulum Merdeka; policy

Tolerance to drought and flooding events provides a competitive advantage for an invasive over a native plant species

Abstract Changes in precipitation patterns are one of the most pervasive components of climate change. It has been suggested that the increased frequency of extreme drought and flooding events could affect the outcome of competition between native and invasive plants. However, empirical evidence for this prediction remains scarce. We combined controlled experiments and field observations in a freshwater floodplain to assess how drought and flooding events affect growth and biomass production of a native and an invasive plant species, grown in monoculture and mixed culture. We used the native Panicum dichotomiflorum and the invasive Urochloa mutica, which are two common grasses that frequently grow in natural floodplains of the Neotropics. The experimental and observational data showed that biomass production, growth and relative dominance of the native species were higher under more stable water levels. By contrast, the invasive species had higher biomass production, growth and relative dominance under extreme drought and flooding conditions. Thus, extremes in precipitation can alter the relative dominance of the two species in favour of the invader. Our study provides comprehensive evidence that water‐level oscillations may negatively impact the performance of the native species, whereas they did not alter the biomass production and growth of the invasive species. Under stable conditions, faster growth of the native species may hinder successful establishment of the invasive species. However, under extreme drought and flooding events, the invader could be favoured. Although our findings are based on the outcome of the interaction between only one native and one invasive plant species, our results suggest that biotic resistance might be higher under stable water conditions.

Arabidopsis response to copper is mediated by density and root exudates: Evidence that plant density and toxic soils can shape plant communities.

Plants grown at high densities show increased tolerance to heavy metals for reasons that are not clear. A potential explanation is the release of citrate by plant roots, which binds metals and prevents uptake. Thus, pooled exudates at high plant densities might increase tolerance. We tested this exclusion facilitation hypothesis using mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana defective in citrate exudation. Wild type Arabidopsis and two allelic mutants for the Ferric Reductase Defective 3 (FRD3) gene were grown at four densities and watered with copper sulfate at four concentrations. Plants were harvested before bolting and dried. Shoot biomass was measured, and shoot material and soil were digested in nitric acid. Copper contents were determined by atomic absorption. In the highest-copper treatment, density-dependent reduction in toxicity was observed in the wild type but not in FRD3 mutants. For both mutants, copper concentrations per gram biomass were up to seven times higher than for wild type plants, depending on density and copper treatment. In all genotypes, total copper accumulation was greater at higher plant densities. Plant size variation increased with density and copper treatment because of heterogeneous distribution of copper throughout the soil. These results support the hypothesis that citrate exudation is responsible for density-dependent reductions in toxicity of metals. Density-dependent copper uptake and growth in contaminated soils underscores the importance of density in ecotoxicological testing. In soils with a heterogeneous distribution of contaminants, competition for nontoxic soil regions may drive size hierarchies and determine competitive outcomes.

Dietary restraint and emotional eating among elite/international combat sport athletes

ABSTRACT In one-on-one combat sport, weight classifications are enforced to promote fair fights and minimise injury risk. Most combat sport athletes try to fight at weight much lower than their natural weight necessitating use of weight loss strategies including restrained eating prior to competition. Previous research indicates that individuals self-reporting as high in dietary restraint also self-report a higher desire to emotionally eat, which if acted upon would compromise weight management goals. This mixed-methods exploratory study examined associations between dietary restraint and emotional eating among elite/international combat sport athletes. Nineteen elite/international competitors in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts completed the emotional eating scale, a revised restraint scale, and a rapid weight loss questionnaire. A subsample of six participants then completed individual interviews to explore emotional eating, particularly during the lead-up to and post-competition. Quantitative findings via non-parametric tests found high scores in restrained eating associated with a greater urge to emotionally eat. Qualitative findings via content analysis of interview data identified three themes that helped understand this association, “emotions eliciting an urge to eat”, “outcomes of emotional eating”, and “resisting emotional eating”. Participants described a cycle of restrained eating pre-competition followed by an increased tendency toward emotional eating post-competition, with the extent of emotional eating influenced by the degree of restrained eating required and competition outcomes.

Power in sovereign debt markets: debtors’ coordination for more competitive outcomes

Abstract Evidence suggests that sovereign debt markets are not featured by perfect competition but power dynamics are a key determinant of market outcomes such as ex-post returns on sovereign bonds. In such environment, coordination within each side of the market matters. With the purpose of influencing the international debt architecture, private creditors have historically been fairly coordinated and their interests more aligned ex-ante. Sovereign debtors, however, have not. The power asymmetry that that entails has equity and efficiency implications, both ex-ante and ex-post. This paper analyzes asymmetries in collective action of each side of the sovereign debt market and the mechanisms through which it affects market outcomes. It also analyses the Cartagena Group’s experience in the 1980s as a prominent historical case of greater borrower coordination and identifies mechanisms through which greater debtor coordination could be fostered.

Spatial constraints and stochastic seeding subvert microbial arms race.

Surface attached communities of microbes grow in a wide variety of environments. Often, the size of these microbial community is constrained by their physical surroundings. However, little is known about how size constraints of a colony impact the outcome of microbial competitions. Here, we use individual-based models to simulate contact killing between two bacterial strains with different killing rates in a wide range of community sizes. We found that community size has a substantial impact on outcomes; in fact, in some competitions the identity of the most fit strain differs in large and small environments. Specifically, when at a numerical disadvantage, the strain with the slow killing rate is more successful in smaller environments than in large environments. The improved performance in small spaces comes from finite size effects; stochastic fluctuations in the initial relative abundance of each strain in small environments lead to dramatically different outcomes. However, when the slow killing strain has a numerical advantage, it performs better in large spaces than in small spaces, where stochastic fluctuations now aid the fast killing strain in small communities. Finally, we experimentally validate these results by confining contact killing strains of Vibrio cholerae in transmission electron microscopy grids. The outcomes of these experiments are consistent with our simulations. When rare, the slow killing strain does better in small environments; when common, the slow killing strain does better in large environments. Together, this work demonstrates that finite size effects can substantially modify antagonistic competitions, suggesting that colony size may, at least in part, subvert the microbial arms race.

Accessory gland size increases with sperm competition intensity in Cataglyphis desert ants

In many species, females have multiple mates, whose sperm compete for paternity. Males may subsequently invest in the increased production of sperm and/or seminal fluid. The latter is a complex mixture of proteins, peptides, and other compounds generated by the accessory glands (AGs) and is transferred to females along with a male’s sperm. Seminal fluid is known to be a key determinant of competitive outcomes among sperm, and its production may trade off with that of sperm. We show that AG size—a proxy for seminal fluid production—has a positive and phylogenetically robust correlation with both sperm competition intensity and sperm production in nine species of Cataglyphis desert ants. These results indicate a lack of trade-off between sperm production and seminal fluid production. They underscore that sperm competition may strongly shape sperm traits and could drive reproductive performance in eusocial hymenopterans.

Fertilization during mineland rehabilitation may shift competitive outcomes toward invasive species

Managing invasive species is essential for achieving mineland rehabilitation goals and ensuring the long‐term provision of critical ecosystem services while preventing new dispersion sources to neighboring areas. Traditional techniques include chemical and manual weeding, but frequent reinvasion limits their long‐term success. Therefore, additional integrated tools, such as stimulating natural competitors, may become necessary, especially where sensitive ecosystems, e.g. the ferruginous savanna ecosystem (cangas) from the Carajás National Forest, Eastern Amazon, Brazil, are found nearby rehabilitation sites. Here, we investigate the influence of different substrates and fertilization levels on the biotic interactions between two native canga grasses (Axonopus longispicus and Paspalum cinerascens) and the invasive molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora), which is frequently found in anthropized and natural ecosystems in Latin America. Nutrient application significantly influenced the growth, resource use strategies, and competitive outcomes of M. minutiflora. Nutrient application has positive effects on the growth of native species when cultivated in isolation but reduces plant development when subjected to competition with molasses grass, potentiating the invader. Although neither of the tested native species exhibited competitive advantages over M. minutiflora, increased nitrogen availability favored the competitive ability of this invasive grass. Thus, eliminating fertilization during mineland rehabilitation may be important for reducing the cover of M. minutiflora in the Carajás region, as sensitive canga ecosystems lack natural barriers against invasion. This strategic approach mitigates the operational risks and costs associated with combating invasive species from rehabilitating minelands, reducing propagule pressure on neighboring canga areas.

The relationship between information processing capabilities, Net-Zero capability and supply chain performance

PurposeThis study views Net-Zero as a dynamic capability for decarbonising supply chains (SCs). This study aims to investigate the relationship between three information processing-related capabilities (supply chain visibility [SCV], supply chain integration [SCI] and big data analytics [BDA]) as its antecedents and SC performance as its competitive advantage outcome.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conceptualise a research model grounded in the literature based on dynamic capabilities and information processing views. The study uses a structural equation modelling technique to test the hypotheses’ relationship using the survey data from 311 industrial enterprises.FindingsThe results show that SCI and BDA positively and directly influence the Net-Zero capability (NZC). No significant direct impact is found between SCV and NZC. BDA fully mediates SCV and partially mediates SCI in their relationship with NZC. The results also confirm that NZC positively impacts SC performance (SCP).Originality/valueThis study contributes to operations management and SC literature by extending the knowledge about Net-Zero SCs through an empirical investigation. In particular, the study suggests BDA is essential to enhance NZC as SCV alone does not significantly contribute. The study also documents the benefit of NZC on SCP, which can encourage more volunteer actions in the industry.

Reducing nitrogen inputs mitigates Spartina invasion in the Yangtze estuary

Abstract Plant invasions driven by global environmental changes (e.g. nutrient enrichment) increasingly threaten natural ecosystems. It is unclear whether reducing nitrogen (N) inputs helps to mitigate plant invasions in natural ecosystems. Using ongoing, landscape‐scale N reductions in the Yangtze River, we combined spatiotemporal surveys before and after reducing N inputs and manipulative experiments to explore how N reductions contributed to native community recovery in estuarine marshes degraded by plant invasions. We found that native Phragmites australis patches gradually recovered in Spartina alterniflora‐invaded marshes after reducing N inputs. The competitive advantage of S. alterniflora over P. australis decreased with N reduction, shifting the competitive outcomes away from P. australis exclusion to their coexistence. Synthesis and applications. Our findings reveal that the reversal of nitrogen enrichment may shift ecosystems from being more susceptible to invasion toward successional recovery, offering a promising approach for facilitating native community recovery in the invaded ecosystems. These findings have important implications for restoring invaded ecosystems, especially as global environmental change escalates the extent and impact of invaders by exacerbating current invasions and facilitating new ones.

Investigating the phenology and interactions of competitive plant species co-occurring with invasive Lantana camara in Indian Himalayan Region

Invasive plant species are considered one of the significant drivers of habitat loss, leading to biodiversity loss. They have also been observed to alter the local ecology, resulting in a decline of native flora. The management of invasive species is widely recognised as one of the most severe challenges to biodiversity conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers Lantana camara, as one of the ten worst weeds. Over time, native and indigenous species may evolve to co-exist or compete with invasive species, reducing invader fitness. It is observed that species competition fluctuates throughout environmental gradients, life phases, and abundances. Hence, competition outcome is very context-dependent. To address this challenge, we conducted a comprehensive study in three phases: we identified native species coexisting with Lantana in their natural habitats in the Doon Valley (Phase I) and documented the phenotypic traits of selected coexisting species using the Landmark BBCH (Biologische Bun-desantalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie) scale, revealing the phenological growth patterns of selected co-existing species (Phase II). This was followed by conducting pot (Phase IIIa) and field (Phase IIIb) experiments to study the interactions between them. Notably, Justicia adhatoda, Broussonetia papyrifera, Pongamia pinnata, Urtica dioica and Bauhinia variegata demonstrated promising results in both pot and field conditions. Furthermore, after the mechanical removal of Lantana and prior to the plantation in the field experiments, four native grass species were introduced using the seed ball method. Among these, Pennisetum pedicellatum and Sorghum halpense exhibited prompt regeneration and effectively colonised the field, densely covering the cleared area. The study provides a comprehensive management plan for the restoration of Lantana affected areas through competition using native species. This study utilizes phenological assessment for native plant selection using reclamation from native grasses and proposes a management plan for combating invasive Lantana.