What are Ecological Niches?

Definition of Niche: the full range of biotic and abiotic conditions below which an being lives. Because of competition and limited resources, organisms with similar requirements tend to configuration into more or less different ecologic boxs. fantasy of competitive exclusion - two species exit not plunge exactly the same niche. The concept of the bionomic niche is very(prenominal) strategic one; it helps us to pull in how organisms in an ecosystem move with each other. The concept is described by Odum as follows: The ecologic niche of an organism depends not sole(prenominal) on where it lives but excessively on what it does. By analogy, it whitethorn be said that the habitat is the organisms address, and the niche is its barter, biologically speaking. Odum - basic principle of Ecology - W B Saunders 1959 What do oak trees do? If you can settlement that question you know the oak trees profession or its ecological niche. Perhaps you think that oak trees only w hen stand thither looking pretty and not doing very much, but in reality they do a lot. Oak trees: 1.          draw and turd sunlight by photosynthesis; 2.         absorb water and mineral salts from the earth; 3.         provide shelter for many animals and other plants; 4.         act as a support for creeping plants; 5.         serve as a source of food for animals; 6.         cover the ground with their dead leaves in the autumn. These six things are the profession or ecological niche of the oak tree; you can think of it as organism a kind of job description. If the oak trees were cut defeat or destroyed by fire or storms they would no longer be doing their job and this would cast a grim effect on all the other organisms living in the same habitat. Hedgehogs in a garden also nourish an ecological niche. They search... If you want to get a full essay, s crunch it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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