Ecological Niche, Habitats and Adaptations

Question 1

Ecological Niche

Answer 1

The functional position of an organism in its environment
Comprises of: the habitat in which the organism lives, the organism’s activity pattern and the resources it obtains from the habitat

Question 2

Fundamental Niche

Answer 2

Described by the full range of environmental conditions (biological and physical) under which the organism can exist

Question 3

Realised Niche

Answer 3

The niche that is actually occupied, is narrower than the fundamental niche

Question 4

Physical Conditions

Answer 4

Influence the habitat in which an organism lives - substrate, humidity, sunlight, temperature, salinity, pH, exposure, altitude, depth

Question 5

Habitat

Answer 5

The physical place or environment in which an organism lives

Question 6

Microhabitat

Answer 6

Describes the precise location within a habitat where a species is normally found - it is a small, often highly specialised and effectively isolated location

Question 7

Biome

Answer 7

The living organisms of a large area defined by its climate and predominate plant species

Question 8

Ecozone

Answer 8

A large area in which organisms have been evolving in isolation over long periods of time

Question 9

Ecoregion

Answer 9

A subdivision of an ecozone; a geographically distinct community based on geology, soils, climate and predominate vegetation

Question 10

Competition

Answer 10

The active demand between two or more organisms for a resource, can be either infraspecific or interspecific, each competitor is inhibited in some way by the competition, effects the size of a competitor’s realised niche

Question 11

Interspecific Competition

Answer 11

Results in a narrower realised niche as species specialise to exploit a narrower range of resources, usually less intense than infraspecific competition because niche overlap between species is not complete

Question 12

Infraspecific Competition

Answer 12

Results in a broader realised niche as individuals are forced to occupy suboptimal conditions

Question 13

Keystone Species

Answer 13

A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance by maintaining local biodiversity within a community either by controlling populations of other species that would otherwise dominate the community or by providing critical resources