B 10 VRV 2042

Lesson Overview Niches and Community Interactions
Lesson Overview
4.2 Niches and
Community Interactions
THINK ABOUT IT
If you ask someone where an organism lives, that person might
answer “on a coral reef” or “in the desert.”
These answers give the environment or location, but ecologists need

more information to understand fully why an organism lives where it
does and how it fits into its surroundings.
What else do they need to know?

The Niche
What is a niche?
The Niche
What is a niche?
A niche is the range of physical and biological conditions in which a

species lives and the way the species obtains what it needs to survive and
reproduce.
Tolerance
Every species has its own range of tolerance, the ability to survive and
reproduce under a range of environmental circumstances.
Tolerance
When an environmental condition, such as temperature, extends in
either direction beyond an organism’s optimum range, the organism
experiences stress.
The organism must expend more energy to maintain homeostasis, and

so has less energy left for growth and reproduction.
Tolerance
Organisms have an upper and lower limit of tolerance for every
environmental factor. Beyond those limits, the organism cannot survive.
A species’ tolerance for environmental conditions, then, helps determine

its habitat—the general place where an organism lives.
Defining the Niche

An organism’s niche describes not only the environment where it lives,
but how it interacts with biotic and abiotic factors in the environment.
In other words, an organism’s niche includes not only the physical and
biological aspects of its environment, but also the way in which the
organism uses them to survive and reproduce.
Resources and the Niche

The term resource can refer to any necessity of life, such as water,
nutrients, light, food, or space.
For plants, resources can include sunlight, water, and soil nutrients.
For animals, resources can include nesting space, shelter, types of

food, and places to feed.
Physical Aspects of the Niche

Part of an organism’s niche involves the abiotic factors it requires for
survival.
Most amphibians, for example, lose and absorb water through their
skin, so they must live in moist places.
If an area is too hot and dry, or too cold for too long, most
amphibians cannot survive.
Biological Aspects of the Niche

Biological aspects of an organism’s niche involve the biotic factors it
requires for survival, such as when and how it reproduces, the food it
eats, and the way in which it obtains that food.
Birds on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, for example, all live in
the same habitat but they prey on fish of different sizes and feed in
different places.
Thus, each species occupies a distinct niche.

Competition
How does competition shape communities?
Competition
How does competition shape communities?
By causing species to divide resources, competition helps determine the

number and kinds of species in a community and the niche each species
occupies.
Competition
How one organism interacts with other organisms is an important part of
defining its niche.
Competition occurs when organisms attempt to use the same limited

ecological resource in the same place at the same time.
Competition
In a forest, for example, plant roots compete for resources such as
water and nutrients in the soil.
Animals compete for resources such as food, mates, and places to

live and raise their young.
Competition can occur both between members of the same species

(known as intraspecific competition) and between members of
different species (known as interspecific competition).
The Competitive Exclusion Principle

Direct competition between different species almost always produces a
winner and a loser—and the losing species dies out.

In the the experiment shown in the graph, two species of paramecia (P.
aurelia and P. caudatum) were first grown in separate cultures (dashed
lines) . In separate cultures, but under the same conditions, both
populations grew.
However, when both species were grown together in the same culture
(solid line), one species outcompeted the other, and the less
competitive species did not survive.

The competitive exclusion principle states that no two species can
occupy exactly the same niche in exactly the same habitat at exactly the
same time.
If two species attempt to occupy the same niche, one species will be
better at competing for limited resources and will eventually exclude the
other species.
As a result of competitive exclusion, natural communities rarely have

niches that overlap significantly.
Dividing Resources
Instead of competing for similar
resources, species usually divide
them.
For example, the three species of

North American warblers shown
all live in the same trees and feed
on insects.
But one species feeds on high

branches; another feeds on low
branches, and another feeds in
the middle.
Dividing Resources
The resources utilized by these
species are similar yet different.
Therefore, each species has its
own niche and competition is
minimized.
This division of resources was

likely brought about by past
competition among the birds.
By causing species to divide

resources, competition helps
determine the number and kinds
of species in a community and
the niche each species occupies
Predation, Herbivory, and Keystone

Species
How do predation and herbivory shape communities?
Predation, Herbivory, and Keystone

Species
How do predation and herbivory shape communities?
Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and

determine the places prey can live and feed.
Herbivores can affect both the size and distribution of plant populations in a
community and determine the places that certain plants can survive and
grow.
Predator-Prey Relationships
An interaction in which one animal (the predator) captures and feeds on
another animal (the prey) is called predation.
Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and

determine the places prey can live and feed.
Birds of prey, for example, can play an important role in regulating the
population sizes of mice, voles, and other small mammals.
Predator-Prey Relationships
This graph shows an idealized computer model of changes in predator
and prey populations over time.
Herbivore-Plant Relationships
An interaction in which one animal (the herbivore) feeds on
producers (such as plants) is called herbivory.
Herbivores, like a ring-tailed lemur, can affect both the size and
distribution of plant populations in a community and determine the
places that certain plants can survive and grow.
For example, very dense populations of white-tailed deer are

eliminating their favorite food plants from many places across the
United States.
Keystone Species
Sometimes changes in the population of a single species, often called
a keystone species, can cause dramatic changes in the structure of
a community.
In the cold waters off the Pacific coast of North America, for example,
sea otters devour large quantities of sea urchins.
Urchins are herbivores whose favorite food is kelp, giant algae that
grow in undersea “forests.”
Keystone Species
A century ago, sea otters were nearly eliminated by hunting.
Unexpectedly, the kelp forest nearly vanished.
Without otters as predators, the sea urchin population skyrocketed,

and armies of urchins devoured kelp down to bare rock.
Without kelp to provide habitat, many other animals, including

seabirds, disappeared.
Otters were a keystone species in this community.

Keystone Species
After otters were protected as an endangered species, their
population began to recover.
As otters returned, the urchin populations dropped, and kelp forests

began to thrive again.
Recently, however, the otter population has been falling again, and
no one knows why.
Symbioses
What are the three primary ways that organisms depend on each other?
Symbioses
What are the three primary ways that organisms depend on each other?
Biologists recognize three main classes of symbiotic relationships in

nature: mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.
Symbioses
Any relationship in which two species live closely together is called
symbiosis, which means “living together.”
The three main classes of symbiotic relationships in nature are

mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.
Mutualism
The sea anemone’s sting has two functions: to capture prey and to
protect the anemone from predators. Even so, certain fish manage to
snack on anemone tentacles.
The clownfish, however, is immune to anemone stings. When

threatened by a predator, clownfish seek shelter by snuggling deep
into an anemone’s tentacles.
Mutualism
If an anemone-eating species tries to attack the anemone, the
clownfish dart out and chase away the predators.
This kind of relationship between species in which both benefit is

known as mutualism.
Parasitism
Tapeworms live in the intestines of mammals, where they absorb large
amounts of their hosts’ food.
Fleas, ticks, lice, and the leech shown, live on the bodies of mammals
and feed on their blood and skin.
These are examples of parasitism, relationships in which one

organism lives inside or on another organism and harms it.
Parasitism
The parasite obtains all or part of its nutritional needs from the host
organism.
Generally, parasites weaken but do not kill their host, which is usually
larger than the parasite.
Commensalism
Barnacles often attach themselves to a whale’s skin. They perform
no known service to the whale, nor do they harm it. Yet the
barnacles benefit from the constant movement of water—that is full
of food particles—past the swimming whale.
This is an example of commensalism, a relationship in which one

organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.

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Lesson Overview Niches and Community Interactions

These answers give the environment or location, but ecologists need

What else do they need to know?

A niche is the range of physical and biological conditions in which a

The organism must expend more energy to maintain homeostasis, and

A species’ tolerance for environmental conditions, then, helps determine

Defining the Niche

Resources and the Niche

For animals, resources can include nesting space, shelter, types of

Physical Aspects of the Niche

Biological Aspects of the Niche

Thus, each species occupies a distinct niche.

By causing species to divide resources, competition helps determine the

Competition occurs when organisms attempt to use the same limited

Animals compete for resources such as food, mates, and places to

Competition can occur both between members of the same species

The Competitive Exclusion Principle

The Competitive Exclusion Principle

The Competitive Exclusion Principle

As a result of competitive exclusion, natural communities rarely have

For example, the three species of

But one species feeds on high

This division of resources was

By causing species to divide

Predation, Herbivory, and Keystone

Predation, Herbivory, and Keystone

Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and

Predators can affect the size of prey populations in a community and

For example, very dense populations of white-tailed deer are

Without otters as predators, the sea urchin population skyrocketed,

Without kelp to provide habitat, many other animals, including

Otters were a keystone species in this community.

As otters returned, the urchin populations dropped, and kelp forests

Biologists recognize three main classes of symbiotic relationships in

The three main classes of symbiotic relationships in nature are

The clownfish, however, is immune to anemone stings. When

This kind of relationship between species in which both benefit is

These are examples of parasitism, relationships in which one

This is an example of commensalism, a relationship in which one

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