I have no idea what it means! I looked it up but i don’t really understand it. So what does it mean? And if you happen to know what a moose’s niche is too that would be great! Thanks 🙂
Posted on November 30, 2012.
I have no idea what it means! I looked it up but i don’t really understand it. So what does it mean? And if you happen to know what a moose’s niche is too that would be great! Thanks 🙂
Try this link, hope it helps. I was curious myself after reading your question lol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_…
a niche is how an organism interacts with its environment or what it adds to the environment. or the role it fills.
So for example.. bees add to the environment by pollinating flowers
what can a moose do to help its environment?
Im not completely familiar with moose, but i would assume that perhaps it eats certain things that may contain a species, or it might fertilize ground by going to the bathroom etc.
A niche is the unique space a species occupies within an ecosystem. Each species has specific needs, such as food, reproductive needs (such as nesting space), physical space needs that are unique to a particular species. A niche is the sum total of all that a species needs to survive, and the term niche has also been borrowed by social scientists for the way an individual or a business may make a living in the business world. For example, cows need grass to feed on and they need water to drink and space to rest and to raise their young, and the air it needs to breathe. All these needs, plus other needs that they may have but are not named here, make up for a cow’s unique niche. Cows occupy a different niche than, say, dung beetles, for example, since cows have different requirements than dung beetles. Cows eat different things than dung beetles and cows don’t sleep in the same kinds of places as a dung beetle.
The term niche space is also used to summarize all of the needs a species may have in order to exist. Different organisms with different niches therefore can coexist peacefully in the same ecosystem, since they do not occupy the same niche space, and they are not in competition for resources. If two organisms have similar niches, then difficulties can arise if a resource both of them need is limited. For example, if sheep are put in the same area as cows, then they can compete for grass, which can be a limited resource, even though grass can grow quickly. Further, sheep can crop grass so close to the ground that cows cannot eat it. Therefore conflicts can arise because of their niche similarities. In the American west, conflicts between sheep and cattle ranchers are well known as violence among these ranchers may erupt from time to time.
In nature, if two species have similar niches, they usually do not coexist in the same ecosystem. If two species with similar niches are forced to live in the same area, then one of them may become extinct, having been outcompeted by the other, or one or both of them may change to occupy different niches, a process known as niche differentiation, so that there is no longer competition, and the two can then coexist in the same space. An example of niche differentiation is, for example, the different methods ducks use to gather food. Some ducks are dabblers, and they only search for food in shallow waters, without diving. Dabbling ducks often stick their rear ends up in the air when they search for food. Other ducks are divers, and they completely submerge themselves when searching for food. By evolving slightly different niches, dabbling ducks and diving ducks can coexist peacefully in the same area.