Ecological Niches

An ecological niche describes the role of an organism within its environment. The niche includes all the biotic, or living, and abiotic, or nonliving, resources and conditions that the organism uses.

For example, the niche of a hare includes abiotic factors such as the climate where it can survive and the terrain that provides shelter and protection from predators.

Biotic factors include other hares with which it interacts, the plants it eats, and the predators that feed on it.

A fundamental niche is the full range of resources and environmental conditions that an organism could use. A realized niche is the narrower range of resources that a species actually uses.

Competition with other species often limits the size of the realized niche.

If competition from other species is reduced or removed, the species may begin to use more of the resources that it could potentially use. As a result, its realized niche can expand toward its fundamental niche.

While members of the same species often share some resources in the same area, two different species cannot occupy the same niche indefinitely. If they do, one would outcompete the other.

So how can similar species live in the same place without