Question

Define Niche.

Answer 1

If the idea of the niche pervades all ecology, ecology might almost be characterised as the study of niches, not that the ecological niche has been used in so many different ways.

Complete answer:
The ecological niche is defined as the total amount of the adaptations of an organismic unit, or as all the different ways in which an organismic unit conforms to its specific environment. As with the climate, we can talk about an individual's niche, a population, or a species.

The distinction between the environment of an organism and its niche is that the latter term includes the capacity of the organism to manipulate its environment and involves the ways in which an organism actually communicates with its environment and uses it.

An ecological niche defines the way a species communicates with its habitat and survives in it. Ecological niches have unique features that determine how, and how well, a species lives and reproduces, such as food availability, temperature, terrain, sunlight and predators.

In its surroundings, every living creature on Earth has a role to play. Probably right now you are filling up a niche when you read this. These are components of the niche that you fill, whether you are a student, have a full-time job, or are a mother or father. In order to live, your niche also involves where and how you procure food and all the stuff you do.

You can find several species living and working together, serving their ecological niches if you closely look at a typical ecosystem in the world. Imagine walking through the forest, for instance, where there are leaves scattered on the ground and an old rotting log lying on the floor of the forest. If you look closely, you will possibly find earthworms feeding on rotting organic matter just underneath the surface.

As well as a colony of ants that work and feed on dead insects, there may also be centipedes eating small beetles and other species. You might also notice a few millipedes strolling around feeding on leaves that are rotting.

Note: Zoologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson proposed a kind of compromise to these trains of thought in 1957. Two types of niche were identified by Hutchinson. The fundamental niche focused on the conditions under which, without ecological interactions, a species could survive. In comparison, the realised niche considered the life of the population in the presence of encounters, or competition.