Name: Mark Anthony A.

Pega BSE-3B

1. How the concept of niche was developed?

The definition of a niche has changed since it was first introduced. A field biologist
named Joseph Grinnell took the basic concept of the niche and further developed it, claiming
that a niche distinguished between different species that occupied the same space. In other
words, only one species could have a particular niche. He was influenced by species
distribution. Ecologist Charles Elton’s definition of niche focused on the role of a species, such
as its trophic role. His tenets emphasized more on community similarity and less on competition.

In 1957, Zoologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson provided a sort of compromise of these trains of

thought. Hutchinson described two forms of niche. The fundamental niche focused on the
conditions in which a species could exist with no ecological interactions. The realized niche, in
contrast, considered the population’s existence in the presence of interactions, or competition.

The adoption of the ecological niche concept has allowed ecologists to understand the roles of
species in ecosystems.

2. How would you compare specialized from generalized niche? Give examples

Specialized niche is apply for those species which have a very well-defined or narrow
physical, biological or chemical requirements for survival which means they have a narrow niche
which is specific and limited and one the example of species for this kind of niche are the giant
pandas, also known as specialist with a narrow ecological niche while generalized niche is apply
to a species which can exist in a broad range of conditions and humans are considered as the
best example of species with a generalized niche. Compare with specialized niche they have a
broad niche wherein they can able to withstand numerous conditions.

3. Discuss competitive exclusion principle.

The competitive exclusion principle sometimes referred to as Gause’s Law of

competitive exclusion or just Gause’s Law, tells us that two species can’t have exactly the same
niche in a habitat and stably coexists. That's because species with identical niches also have
identical needs, which means they would compete for precisely the same resources. One of the
two competitors will always have an ever so slight advantage over the other that leads to
extinction of the second competitor in the long run (in a hypothetical non-evolving system) or (in
the real world) to an evolutionary shift of the inferior competitor towards a different ecological
niche. As a consequence, competing related species often evolve distinguishing characteristics
in areas where they both coexist. This aids in mate recognition, thus maintaining each species'
superiority in exploiting slightly different ecological niches.
4. What are the 2 most common communities? give the detailed information.

Community, also called biological community, in biology, an interacting group of various

species in a common location. For example, a forest of trees and undergrowth plants, inhabited
by animals and rooted in soil containing bacteria and fungi, constitutes a biological community.

Among the factors that determine the overall structure of a community are the number of
species (diversity) within it, the number of each species (abundance) found within it, the
interactions among the species, and the ability of the community to return to normal after a
disruptive influence such as fire or drought. The change of biological communities over time
is2known as succession, or ecological succession.2

The various species in a community each occupy their own ecological niche. The niche
of a species includes all of its interactions with other members of the community, including
competition, predation, parasitism, and mutualism. The organisms within a community can be
positioned along food chains by showing which eats which, and these positions are known as
trophic levels. The first level includes the producerswhich convert the Sun’s radiant energy into
nutrients available to other organisms in the community. These plants are eaten by herbivores,
the second trophic level. Herbivores are, in turn, eaten by carnivores, which are frequently eaten
by larger carnivores. The food chain ends when the last link dies and is attacked by various
bacteria and fungi, the decomposers that break down dead organic matter and thereby release
essential nutrients back into the environment.2