Transcript Document

14.1 Habitat And Niche
KEY CONCEPT
Every organism has a habitat and a niche.
14.1 Habitat And Niche
• A habitat is all aspects of the area in which an organism
lives.
– biotic (living) factors
– Abiotic (non-living) factors
Ex: ALL aspects of
The habitat including
grass, trees, and
watering hole
14.1 Habitat And Niche
• A niche includes all of the
physical, chemical, and
biological factors that a
species needs to survive, stay
healthy, and reproduce.
– food
– Abiotic conditions (temp,
water)
– Behavior (time of day its
active, when it reproduces)
You can think of a habitat
as where a species lives
and a niche as how it
lives within its habitat.
14.1 Habitat And Niche
• Species can share habitats and resources, BUT
competition occurs when two species use the same
resources Ex: Cheetahs and Lions
• Competitive exclusion keeps two species from occupying
the same niche. NO TWO SPECIES OCCUPY THE SAME
NICHE
Competitive exclusion has 3 different outcomes
14.1 Habitat And Niche
1) One species is better suited to the niche and the other will
either be pushed out or become extinct. Ex: North
American Grey Squirrel and native European Red Squirrel
How the Red Squirrel could survive….
2) If the niche will be divided. Ex: One species eats nuts from
the trees, and one eats them from the ground
3)If the two species further diverge. Ex: One species has teeth
better suited for seeds, and one has bigger teeth for nuts
14.1 Habitat And Niche
• Ecological equivalents are species that occupy similar
niches but live in different geographical regions.
Madagascar
South America