Ecological niches

An organisms role in its community or ecosystem (How an organism fits into its environment and responds to its resources and competitors)

No two species can coexist in a stable equilibrium if their niches are identical (For example two species having a niche for eating worms one species will outcompete the other)

Less competition for food Less competition for resources Ensures survival of all species Prevent better adapted organisms from displacing others and out-competing them into extinction Competitive exclusion principle (Species Cant coexist with same niche)

Very high number of variables in an ecosystem make them impossible to reciprocate in a laboratory like temperature, pH, wind intensity and humidity In a real ecosystem factors can chance and create separate niches Observations in the wild only cover a short time period Cannot guarantee the effects of other variables in a single observation