Scientists analyzed data collected over a period of years in a game reserve in South Africa to test the hypothesis that competition with lions limits the abundance of leopards in the same community. The game reserve encompasses a variety of habitats, from open grassland to wooded areas around rivers and streams. It contains most of the indigenous mammal species and an adequate availability of their prey. For the most part, the leopards and lions show similar habitat preferences in the reserve.

The mass of the average lion is about three times that of the average leopard. The scientists analyzed several factors that might influence the abundance of each population, including the sizes of the animals preyed on by each species

Size of Prey Animal Percent of Leopards’ Prey (±2SEx¯) Percent of Lions’ Prey (±2SEx¯)
Small 34 ± 2 3 ± 1
Medium 63 ± 3 23 ± 2
Large 3 ± 1 36 ± 4
Very large 0 38 ± 3

Because competition with lions might affect the population size of the leopards, the scientists also analyzed data on the lion and leopard population sizes in the game reserve (Figure 1).

Required:
Describe what scientists mean when they refer to an ecological community such as that shared by the leopards and lions.