Niche & Keystone Species

Question 1

Niche

Answer 1

describes the role an organism plays in a community. A species’ niche encompasses both the physical and environmental conditions (habitat) it requires (like temperature or terrain) its feeding relationships and interactions with other species (like predation or competition) to survive and reproduce.

Question 2

Keystone Species

Answer 2

A keystone species is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem. It carries out processes and functions that sustain the ecosystem. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.

Question 3

Green world hypothesis

Answer 3

The Green World Hypothesis is a hypothesis that claims that Predators are the key to keeping our world green, because they keep the numbers of plant-eating herbivores from growing out of control and consume all plants.