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Why does the effect of competition decrease when a population becomes less dense?

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Line graph showing world population growth from 1700 to 2000 with a steep rise after 1950, followed by three projection scenarios for 2000 to 2100: high, medium, and low, reaching between 7 and 14 billion. — population Graph of the world's estimated human population from 1700 until 2000, with population projections extending until 2100.

In population biology and anthropology, competition is considered a density-dependent factor, meaning its intensity is directly linked to the number of individuals per unit area.12

The effect of competition decreases as a population becomes less dense because individuals are more spread out, which reduces the frequency and intensity of their interactions regarding critical resources. When population density is high, individuals must compete more intensely for limited supplies such as food, water, nesting sites, and sunlight. As the population thins, the demand for these resources per unit area drops, allowing a larger proportion of the population to access them without interference.12

Mathematically, this relationship is often represented in Lotka-Volterra equations, where the influence of competitive interactions on growth rates diminishes as the population size or the density of competitors decreases relative to the carrying capacity of the environment.3