Habitat and Niche

KEY CONCEPT
Every organism has a habitat and a niche.
Habitat and Niche
A habitat differs from a niche.
• A habitat is all aspects of the area in which an organism
lives.
– biotic factors
– abiotic factors
• An ecological niche
includes all of the
factors that a
species needs to
survive, stay
healthy, and
reproduce.
– food
– abiotic conditions
Habitat and Niche
Resource availability gives structure to a community.
• Species can share habitats and resources.
• Competition occurs when two species use resources in the
same way.
• Competitive exclusion keeps two species from occupying
the same niche.
Habitat and Niche
• Competitive exclusion has different outcomes.
– One species is better suited to the niche and the other
will either be pushed out or become extinct.
– The niche will be divided.
– The two species will further diverge.
Habitat and Niche
• Ecological equivalents are species that occupy similar
niches but live in different geographical regions.

Madagascar

South America
Community Interactions
• Predation occurs when one organism captures and eats
another.
Community Interactions
• There are three major types of symbiotic relationships.
– Mutualism: both organisms benefit
Community Interactions
• There are three major types of symbiotic relationships.
– Commensalism: one organism benefits, the other is
unharmed

Human Our eyelashes Commensalism

Ø are home to tiny mites
that feast on oil
secretions and dead
Demodicids Eyelash
skin. Without harming + mites find all they need to
us, up to 20 mites may
be living in one eyelash survive in the tiny follicles
follicle. of eyelashes. Magnified
here 225 times, these
creatures measure 0.4
mm in length and can be
seen only with a
microscope.

Ø Organism is not affected + Organism benefits

Community Interactions
• There are three major types of symbiotic relationships.
– Parasitism: one organism benefits, the other is harmed

0 Braconid
Parasitism wasp

_ + Braconid larvae
feed on their
Hornworm host and
caterpillar release
The host hornworm themselves
will eventually die as shortly before
its organs are reaching
consumed the pupae
by wasp larvae. stage of
development.

_ Organism is not affected 0 Organism benefits

Community Interactions
• There are three major types of symbiotic relationships.
– Parasites meet their needs as ectoparasites (such
as leeches) and endoparasites (such as hookworms)
Population Density and Distribution
KEY CONCEPT
Each population has a density, a dispersion, and a
reproductive strategy.
Population Density and Distribution
Population density is the number of individuals that live
in a defined area.
• Population density is a measurement of the number of
individuals living in a defined space.
• Scientists can calculate population density.
Population Density and Distribution
Geographic dispersion of a population shows how
individuals in a population are spaced.
• Population dispersion refers to
how a population is spread in
an area. Clumped
dispersion

Uniform
dispersion

Random
dispersion
Population Density and Distribution
• There are three types of dispersion.
– clumped
Population Density and Distribution
• There are three types of dispersion.
– uniform
Population Density and Distribution
• There are three types of dispersion.
– random
Population and Growth Patterns
KEY CONCEPT
Populations grow in predictable patterns.
Population and Growth Patterns
Changes in a population’s size are determined by
immigration, births, emigration, and deaths.
• The size of a population
is always changing.
• Four factors affect the
size of a population.
– immigration
– births
– emigration
– deaths
Population and Growth Patterns
Population growth is based on available resources.
• Exponential growth is a rapid population increase due to an
abundance of resources.
Population and Growth Patterns
• Logistic growth is due to a population facing limited
resources.
Population and Growth Patterns
• Carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals in
a population that the environment can support.
• A population crash is a dramatic decline in the size of a
population over a short period of time.
Population and Growth Patterns
Ecological factors limit population growth.
• A limiting factor is something that keeps the size of a
population down.
• Density-dependent limiting factors are affected by the
number of individuals in a given area.
Population and Growth Patterns
• Density-dependent limiting factors are affected by the
number of individuals in a given area.
– predation
– competition
– parasitism
and disease
Population and Growth Patterns
• Density-independent limiting factors limit a population’s
growth regardless of the density.
– unusual weather
– natural disasters
– human activities
Ecological Succession
KEY CONCEPT
Ecological succession is a process of change in the
species that make up a community.
Ecological Succession
Succession occurs following a disturbance in an
ecosystem.
• Succession regenerates or creates a community after a
disturbance.
– a sequence of biotic changes
– damaged communities are regenerated
– new communities arise in previously uninhabited areas
Ecological Succession
• There are two types of succession.
– primary succession — started by pioneer species
Ecological Succession
• There are two types of succession.
– secondary succession — started by remaining species