Figure 43.5: Resource Partitioning Can Cause Intraspecific Competition to Be Greater Than Interspecific Competition When two species differ in their use of resources, individuals will have a greater effect on the availability of resources to individuals of their own species than to individuals of the other species. In this hypothetical scenario, birds of species A eat smaller seeds on average than birds of species B. Individuals of species A affect the food supply for their own species (smaller seeds) more than they affect the food supply for species B (larger seeds), and vice versa. In other words, the two species partition, or divide up, the seed resource.