If I get you question correctly, then this has to do with the whole concept of primary users. The need for such protocols exist as to provide the secondary users with a mechanism to access the spectrum. After this point things get little tricky as it depends whether they are existing with the primary ON or OFF, whether the spectrum is shared between nodes of the same network or between different networks. The overall idea is to provide a mechanism to increase the spectrum efficiency. I hope this answers your question.
I think that shodhan is confused about how dynamic spectrum access is used in Cognitive Radio. Dynamic spectrum access protocols are used to allocate the required spectrum to devices dynamically. Cognitive radio is a technology that can provide Dynamic spectrum access. You asked if it is because of available space?. This protocol covers detection and allocation of the white spaces.