Individual organisms often aid each other in the struggle to survive and reproduce as, for instance, when organisms form into herds, packs, schools, flocks, and swarms that help them to obtain resources or avoid enemies. Because aggregations are more readily formed when populations become dense, the benefits received are likely to increase with population density.

This has certain similarities to the economic law of increasing returns which recognizes that organizations can become more productive as they get larger because coalitions form between individuals, departments, and such, that help the organization become more efficient. There are two basic kinds of intraspecific cooperation:

1. Adapted or programmed intraspecific cooperation which results from the evolution of cooperative social behavior, usually for the purpose of obtaining resources (group hunting) or avoiding enemies (group defense).

2. Unadapted or incidental intraspecific cooperation which results from accidental or unintentional aggregations that coincidentally provide individuals with access to resources or avoidance of enemies.

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