An ecological niche?

Question

a) may be occupied by only one species
b) may be occupied by any number of species
c) may be occupied by only one individual
d) is a micro-habitat
e) is really non distinguishable

Answer 1

a) This is known as the Competitive Exclusion Principle: Only 1 species can occupy a whole niche in an ecosystem at a time.

An ecological niche is mode of existance that a species has within an ecosystem.

Essentially it is the sum of all activities and relationships a species has while obtaining and using the resources needed to survive and reproduce.

A species' niche includes:

a. Habitat - where it lives in the ecosystem

b. Relationships - all interactions with other species in the ecosystem

c. Nutrition - its method of obtaining food.



Competition Between 2 Species for a Niche:

a. 2 Species partially share a niche: both compete in the overlapping parts of the niche for resources, nesting sites, or territory. If the overlap is minimal, both species can coexist.

b. 2 Species have the same niche: both compete head to head in the niche for resources, nesting sites, or territory. One of the species will be superior to the other in utilizing the niche. The 2nd species disappears from the ecosystem.

Answer 2

A. One species will occupy an ecological niche.

If two species try to occupy the same niche, there will be competition between the members of the two species. One species will be better suited to the niche than the other and will remain in that role while the other will either have to go somewhere else or change what they do.

Example: several species of finches may feed in the same tree, but they don't occupy exactly the same niche because one species feeds in the upper branches, one species feeds on the trunk, another species feeds under the tree, ...

Remember that a niche is different than a habitat. The niche includes all the factors needed by the species and all the things the species supplies for others in the ecosystem. It's how the species gets food, the temperature it needs, whether it's active in the dark or in the light, where it gets shelter, what feeds on it, ...

Answer 3

I'm gonna go for (a) - I cite the red squirrel/grey squirrel scenario in Britain. One niche for squirrels, two species, one introduced 100 years ago (grey), that one is now wiping out the original species (red), because only one can occupy the niche.

Answer 4

I'm going for b, but I have no real idea.