4.2 Niches, and Community interactions

Chapter 4.2 Niches Community interactions

First question, whats a niche? A niche si when organisms live in different places so that the organism can live according to its needs. The conditions define how and organism will live and where it will live

Every specie has its own tolerance level. Tolerance meaning the ability to survive and reprodouce under a range of enviromental circumstances. Basically, it means what an animal can live in that good for its needs. If something in its enviroment changes, like a rise in temprature, the organism or animal starts to become stressed. When it becomes stressed, it has to use more energy to keep homeostasis (maintaing internal stability), thus, having less energy to grow and reproduce. Organisms have an upper and lower tolerance limit, but go beyond the lower or higher tolerance limit, and the organism will die.
An organism's tolerance level will define its habitat, or "adress" of where it lives.

To follow up on Niches, a niche not only describes what an organism does, but how its reacts with living and non living things
Other things about niches
-Resource can mean any nessecity of/for life (light, food, air, etc) Resources are needed for a niche to survive.
-For the physical aspects of a niche, the weather/climate has to be ideal for the organism to live in the niche.
-The biological aspects of a niche is the biotic (living) features that it needs to live.

In niches, competition is a big part of life. For example, plant or tree roots might compete for rich soil and water. Competition happens when two organisms try and use the same resource at the same time. A winner and loser is produced everytime theres competition, then the organism that lost dies out. Theres a principle called the Competitive exclusion principle that says that no two species can occupy exactly the same niche in the same habitat at exactly the same time.
Sometimes, organisms/species will even split up, or divide the resources.

All animals must eat other animals to get the nutrients and energy they need. Predator and prey relationships are when a predator hunts and feeds on the prey, this is called Predation.
There are also herbivore (plants) relationships where the animal eats only plants and vegitation.
Changed in population or a single specie is called keystone species. And that can make big changes in the community it lives in.

Symbioses is any relationship in which two species live closely together. And there are three main classes of symbioses.....
1)Mutualism: when both species benifit.
2)Parasitim:A relationship when one benifits when the other is harmed
3)Commensalism: Where one benifits and the other is not harmed.

And thats the 4.2

By: Colleen lynch