Niche (ecology)

Information about Niche (ecology)

Two lichens on a rock, in two different ecological niches

In ecology, a niche (pronounced nich, neesh or nish)^[] is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem^[1]. The ecological niche describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (e. g., by growing when resources are abundant, and predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce) and how it in turn alters those same factors (e.g., limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey)^[2].

The different dimensions, or plot axes, of a niche; represent different biotic and abiotic variables. These factors may include descriptions of the organism's life history, habitat, trophic position (place in the food chain), and geographic range. According to the competitive exclusion principle, no two species can occupy the same niche in the same environment for a long time.

The word "niche;" is derived from the Middle French word nicher,meaning to nest. The term was coined by the naturalist Joseph Grinnell in 1917, in his paper "The niche relationships of the California Thrasher."^[3] However, it wasn't until 1927 that Charles Sutherland Elton, a British ecologist, gave the first working definition of the niche concept. He was credited of saying "[w]hen an ecologist says 'there goes a badger' he should include in his thoughts some definite idea of the animal's place in the community to which it belongs, just as if he had said 'there goes the vicar.'"^[4]

The niche concept was popularized by the zoologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson in 1958^[5]. Hutchinson wanted to know why there are so many different types of organisms in any one habitat.

The full range of environmental conditions (biological and physical) under which an organism can exist describes its fundamental niche. As a result of pressure from, and interactions with, other organisms (e.g. superior competitors) species are usually forced to occupy a niche that is narrower than this and to which they are mostly highly adapted. This is termed the realized niche. G.E. Hutchinson also defined the ecological niche as a "Hypervolume". This term defines the multi-dimensional space of resources (i.e., light, nutrients, structure, etc.) available to (and specifically used by) organisms. An adaptive zone is a set of ecological niches that may be occupied by a group of species that exploits the same resources in a similar manner. (After Root, 1967)

It should be noted that "niche" of Hutchinson (a description of the ecological space occupied by a species) is subtly different than the "niche" as defined by Grinnell (an ecological role, that may or may not be actually filled by a species -- see vacant niches)

Different species can hold similar niches in different locations and the same species may occupy different niches in different locations. The Australian grasslands species, though different from those of the Great Plains grasslands, occupy the same niche.^[6] Once a niche is left vacant, other organisms can fill into that position. For example, the niche that was left vacant by the extinction of the tarpan has been filled by other animals (in particular a small horse breed, the konik). When plants and animals are introduced into a new environment, they can occupy the new niches or niches of native organisms, outcompete the indigenous species, and become a serious pest.

References

1. ^
2. ^ Lomolino, Mark V.; Brown, James W. (1998). Biogeography. Sunderland, Mass: Sinauer Associates. ISBN 0-87893-073-6.
3. ^ Grinnell, J. (1917). "The niche-relationships of the California Thrasher". Auk 34: 427-433.
4. ^ Elton, C.S. (2001). Animal Ecology. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226206394.
5. ^ Hutchinson, G.E. (1957). "Concluding remarks" (PDF). Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 22 (2): 415-427. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
6. ^ [1]

External links

Ecology (also known as Oekologie, Okology, or Oekology^[1],from Greek: οίκος, oikos, "household"; and λόγος, logos
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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population is the collection of people or organisms of a particular species living in a given geographic area or mortality, and migration, though the field encompasses many dimensions of population change including the family (marriage and divorce), public health, work and the
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ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all the non-living physical factors of the environment.
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For the biological concept, see .

The term life history has been given many meanings in several scientific fields. It can refer to a variety of methods and techniques that are used for conducting qualitative interviews, especially in the
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Habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is the area where a particular species lives. It is essentially the natural environment in which an organism lives—at least the physical environment—that surrounds (influences and is utilized by) a species population.
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Food chains, food webs and/or food networks describe the feeding relationships between species in an ecological community. They graphically represent the transfer of material and energy from one species to another within an ecosystem.
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In community ecology, the competitive exclusion principle^[1], sometimes referred to as Gause's Law of competitive exclusion or just Gause's Law^[2], is a theory which states that two species competing for the same resources cannot stably coexist.
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Middle French (French: le moyen français) is a historical division of the French language which covers the period from (roughly) 1340 to 1611 ^[1].
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Joseph Grinnell (1877 - 1939) was a field biologist and zoologist. He made extensive studies of the fauna of California, and is credited with introducing the concept of the ecological niche.
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Charles Sutherland Elton (29 March 1900 – 1 May 1991) was an English biologist. He is credited with establishing modern population ecology.

Elton was a pioneer of the study of animal and plant forms in their natural environments, and of animal behaviour as part of the
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927. It was formed by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself having been a merger of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland) and the Kingdom of
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An ecologist studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. Ecologist is derived from the Greek terms oikos, meaning household, and logos, meaning knowledge.
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Melinae
Mellivorinae
Taxidiinae

Genera

Arctonyx
Melogale
Meles
Mellivora
Taxidea

Badger
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George Evelyn Hutchinson
Born January 30 1903
Cambridge, England
Died May 17 1991 (aged 88)
London, England
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An adaptation is a positive characteristic of an organism that has been favored by natural selection.^[1] The concept is central to biology, particularly in evolutionary biology.
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"Realized Niche Width" is a phrase relating to ecology defining the actual space that an organism inhabits.

Niche Width vs Realized Niche Width

The Niche Width of an organism refers to the area which that species could physically inhabit.
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The issue of what exactly defines a vacant niche and whether they exist in ecosystems is the subject of some considerable controversy. It is important to understand that the subject is intimately tied into a much broader debate on whether ecosystems can reach equilibrium, where
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E. f. ferus

Trinomial name
Equus ferus ferus
Boddaert, 1785

The Tarpan, Equus ferus ferus, was the Eurasian wild horse. The last specimen of this species died in captivity in Ukraine in 1918 or 1919.
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konik is a small Polish horse, a kind of semi-wild pony. In Poland these horses are called koniks, this word comes from the Polish diminutive for a horse, but refers to several breeds.
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The term niche differentiation (synonymous with niche segregation, niche separation and niche partitioning), as it applies to the field of ecology, refers to the process by which natural selection drives competing species into different patterns of resource use
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In evolutionary biology, fitness landscapes or adaptive landscapes are used to visualize the relationship between genotypes (or phenotypes) and reproductive success. It is assumed that every genotype has a well defined replication rate (often referred to as fitness).
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