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[5] Alteration of an ecological niche by its inhabitants is the topic of niche construction. [6] The majority of species exist in a standard ecological niche, sharing behaviors, adaptations, and functional traits similar to the other closely related species within the same broad taxonomic class, but there are exceptions.
A species' realized niche is usually much narrower than its fundamental niche width as it is forced to adjust its niche around the superior competing species. The physical area where a species lives, is its habitat. The set of environmental features essential to that species' survival, is its "niche." (Ecology. Begon, Harper, Townsend)
Ecomorphology, on the other hand, refers to those features which can be shown to derive from the ecology surrounding the species. In other words, functional morphology focuses heavily on the relationship between form and function whereas ecomorphology is interested in the form and the influences from which it arises.
Human ecology may be defined: (1) from a bio-ecological standpoint as the study of man as the ecological dominant in plant and animal communities and systems; (2) from a bio-ecological standpoint as simply another animal affecting and being affected by his physical environment; and (3) as a human being, somehow different from animal life in ...
The source–sink model of population dynamics has made contributions to many areas in ecology. For example, a species' niche was originally described as the environmental factors required by a species to carry out its life history, and a species was expected to be found only in areas that met these niche requirements. [18]
A population of Drosophila melanogaster (common fruit fly or vinegar fly) found inside a wine cellar has a greater alcohol tolerance than a population found outside the wine cellar. This shows micro-differentiation, as each population of this species has adapted to its ecological niche. [3]
Spatial ecology studies the ultimate distributional or spatial unit occupied by a species.In a particular habitat shared by several species, each of the species is usually confined to its own microhabitat or spatial niche because two species in the same general territory cannot usually occupy the same ecological niche for any significant length of time.
Almost all species engage in ecosystem engineering, which occurs when the availability of a resource is altered by organisms that create, alter, or destroy habitats. [18] [19] Niche construction occurs when the interactions and relationship between a species and its environment alters the niche and selective pressure of the species. [8]