1. Ecological Niche

2. Ecological niche
The ecological niche describes the role an organism plays in its environment. It consists of:
The species habitat.
The organisms activity, the period of time it is active.
The resources it obtains from the environment.
Eg. A pukeko lives in marsh areas. It feeds of small insects and grasses.

3. Fundamental niche and realised niche
The fundamental niche of a species includes the total range of environmental conditions that are suitable for existence without the influence of interspecific competition or predation from other species. The realized niche describes that part of the fundamental niche actually occupied by the species.

4. Niche differences Organisms can be identified as either Generalists
Organisms with a broad niche
Eat lots of types of food
Live in many types of environments
Eg. house mice
Specialists
Organisms with a narrow niche
Eat a narrow range of food items
Live in few, specific types of habitats
Eg. panda bear

5. Law of tolerance
The law of tolerance states that for every abiotic factor, an organism has a range of tolerance within which it can survive.

6. Habitat
The habitat provides the organism with the following resources:
Mating sites
Food and water
Nesting sites
Shelter from climate extremes
Predator avoidance
Organisms may or may nit have the adaptations to exploit all the available resources successfully.

7. What determines where species can live?
All species have requirements for many factors/conditions.
Abiotic factors – non-living factors; ex. temperature, precipitation, pH
Biotic factors – other species; ex. prey species, competing species
For each of these factors, species exhibit a range of tolerance.
For example, a fish species may only be found within a pH range of 4.5 to 6 in lakes.

8. Competition
When two species use the same resources, they are said to compete and their interaction = competition.
ex. lions and hyenas compete for food in Africa
Competition does not necessarily involve contact; interaction may be only by means of effects on the resources.
No two organisms can occupy exactly the same niche at the same time