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The ecological meaning of niche comes from the meaning of niche as a recess in a wall for a statue, [7] which itself is probably derived from the Middle French word nicher, meaning to nest. [ 8 ] [ 7 ] The term was coined by the naturalist Roswell Hill Johnson [ 9 ] but Joseph Grinnell was probably the first to use it in a research program in ...
Niche construction is the ecological process by which an organism alters its own (or another species') local environment. These alterations can be a physical change to the organism’s environment, or it can encompass the active movement of an organism from one habitat to another where it then experiences different environmental pressures.
For example, a slight modification of the assumption of how growth and body size are related leads to a different conclusion, namely that, for a given ecosystem, a certain range of species may coexist while others become outcompeted. [10] [11] One of the primary ways niche-sharing species can coexist is the competition-colonization trade-off ...
Species distribution modelling (SDM), also known as environmental (or ecological) niche modelling (ENM), habitat modelling, predictive habitat distribution modelling, and range mapping [1] uses ecological models to predict the distribution of a species across geographic space and time using environmental data. The environmental data are most ...
On the other hand, a species with a highly specialized ecological niche is more effective at competing with other organisms. [ citation needed ] For example, a fish and its parasites are in an evolutionary arms race , a form of coevolution , in which the fish constantly develops defenses against the parasite, while the parasite in turn evolves ...
The results of numerous studies contribute evidence that character displacement often influences the evolution of resource acquisition among members of an ecological guild. [5] Competitive release, defined as the expansion of an ecological niche in the absence of a competitor, is essentially the mirror image of character displacement. [6]
Niche theory states that a species' ranges are limited by their physiological tolerances (fundamental niche) and their biotic limitations (realized niche). The survival rates of organisms facing rapid niche shifts help scientists predict the future effects of climate change and invasive species on current ecological communities.
The Eltonian niche is an ecological niche that emphasizes the functional attributes of animals and their corresponding trophic position. This was the definition Eugene Odum popularized in his analogy of the niche of a species with its profession in the ecosystem as opposed to the habitat being its address.