  We introduce and analyze a spatial Lotka-Volterra competition model with
local and nonlocal interactions. We study two alternative classes of nonlocal
competition that differ in how each species' characteristics determine the
range of the nonlocal interactions. In both cases, nonlocal interactions can
create spatial patterns of population densities in which highly populated
clumps alternate with unpopulated regions. This non-populated regions provide
spatial niches for a weaker competitor to establish in the community and
persist in conditions in which local models predict competitive exclusion.
Moreover, depending on the balance between local and nonlocal competition
intensity, the clumps of the weaker competitor vary from M-like structures with
higher densities of individuals accumulating at the edges of each clump to
triangular structures with most individuals occupying their centers. These
results suggest that long-range competition, through the creation of spatial
patterns in population densities, might be an important driving force behind
the rich diversity of species observed in real ecological communities.
