ES101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Ecological Niche, Channel Catfish, Generalist And Specialist Species
30 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
Ecological niche: a species way of life or fundamental role in a community or ecosystem and involves everything that affects its survival and reproduction. Types and amounts of resources a species uses. How a species interacts with other living and non-living components of the ecosystem. However in a particular ecosystem different specie often compete with one another for one or more of the same resources. Realized niche: to survive and avoid competition for the same resources a species usually occupies only part of its fundamental niche in a particular community or ecosystem. Analogy: you may be capable of being president of a particular company ( fundamental professional niche) but competition from others may mean you become only a vice president ( your realized professional niche) Species can be divided into generalists and specialists based on their food and habitat requirements. This is just a generalization and there is a wide range of species types with varying ranges of niches.
