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niche

In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for example, by growing when resources are abundant, and when predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce) and how it in turn alters those same factors (for example, limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey). "The type and number of variables comprising the dimensions of an environmental niche vary from one species to another [and] the relative importance of particular environmental variables for a species may vary according to the geographic and biotic contexts".A Grinnellian niche is determined by the habitat in which a species lives and its accompanying behavioral adaptations. An Eltonian niche emphasizes that a species not only grows in and responds to an environment, it may also change the environment and its behavior as it grows. The Hutchinsonian niche uses mathematics and statistics to try to explain how species coexist within a given community.
The concept of ecological niche is central to ecological biogeography, which focuses on spatial patterns of ecological communities. "Species distributions and their dynamics over time result from properties of the species, environmental variation..., and interactions between the two—in particular the abilities of some species, especially our own, to modify their environments and alter the range dynamics of many other species." Alteration of an ecological niche by its inhabitants is the topic of niche construction.The majority of species exist in a standard ecological niche, sharing behaviors, adaptations, and functional traits similar to the other closely related species within the same broad taxonomic class, but there are exceptions. A premier example of a non-standard niche filling species is the flightless, ground-dwelling kiwi bird of New Zealand, which feeds on worms and other ground creatures, and lives its life in a mammal-like niche. Island biogeography can help explain island species and associated unfilled niches.

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  1. dave100

    Slim niche in shower just to get the LED lighting effect? See pic.

    Hello, I like the lighting effect from those full-width shower wall niche/recesses. Like the one shown here: In my shower wall I don't have the option of a deep recess, not even enough to hold a bottle of shampoo. However, I was wondering if I could put in a one inch to one and a half recess...
  2. A

    creating a niche in a shower glass wall

    I am creating a wet room with the shower area panelled in glass. I would like to make a niche beside the shower controls but I'm scratching my head about how to make the join between the niche and the glass panel water proof. For appearances I'd rather not have anything too bulky over hanging...
    • Ahearsum
    • Thread
    • america glass niche panel shower usa wall
    • Replies: 12
    • Forum: USA
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