Ecosystems on Earth might be a better way of thinking about this. Notice how we do not see one organism or type of organism squeeze out all the others, or work

Ecosystems on Earth might be a better way of thinking about this. Notice how we do not see one organism or type of organism squeeze out all the others, or work to take in all energy available to them; this is also true of human settlements, whether rural or urban. There is a clear diversity of energy extraction methods, & singular dominance (think algae-clogged lakes) tends to lead to stagnation & death. Mechanical expansion might look grabby (as in Von Neumann probes), but life expanding through the universe could instead follow biological & human-settlement patterns.