Topic 2 – Habitat and Lifestyle
Biological Diversity
Environment
• Organisms have special adaptations that allow
them to play a specific role in their
environment
– An organisms environment is its physical
surroundings.
• DESCRIBE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Habitat
• Habitat is the place where an organism lives
– Supplies organism with food, water and shelter
• Example: Cougars live near mountain ranges.
• QUESTION: What is your habitat?
Niches
• A niche is an organisms way of life
• A niche is made up of two parts:
» Where an organism lives (habitat)
» What it does in the ecosystem (its job)
» A niche consists of both physical space and interaction
with the environment.
• A poplar tree’s habitat is just outside of Banff
---- but WHAT DOES IT DO????
Types of Niches
• Producers
• Consumers
– Herbivores, omnivores, carnivores
• Decomposers
WHAT IS YOUR NICHE?
• Role as a family member, student, friend,
citizen, etc…
• What do you use from Earth?
Questions to think about when
looking at Niches
• Where does it get its food?
• Where does it release its waste?
• How does it interact with the biotic (living)
and abiotic (non-living) environment
• How it moves in its environment (how much
space it occupies)
• How it reproduces
• How it changes its environment
Example:
• Robin:
– Habitat: Open areas, lawns, bushes, trees, air,
ground
– How does it use other things?
• Uses bush or trees for a nesting site, also for protection
• Uses twigs and grass for making nest
• Eats worms and insects
– How is it used by other things?
• Eaten by larger birds, snakes or cats
• Eggs eaten by other birds
• Parasites (mites and Lice) in feathers.
Example – Your Turn
• Describe the Niche of a Salmon
– Habitat?
– How does it use other things?
– How is it used by other things?
Overlapping Niches
• Overlapping niches means that different
species must subdivide their resources (food,
living area etc.)
– This is done through competition
• Variations of different species may give advantages!!!
Variation and Competition
• When water or food run short, species must
compete for it.
– Competition can occur between members of the
same or different species
• Some species may have variations that give them an
advantage in competition
Example
• Cougars hunt large herbivores
– Deer, elk, sheep
• Cougars and Lynx can live in the same area
but…
– Lynx will hunt snowshoe hares
• WHY?
• Changes can happen in species to avoid competition
like the cougar and the lynx
Example
• Mule deer and white tailed deer
– Both have the same type of environment (habitat)
– Both will compete for food resources
• BUT!!!.... Mule Deer are more tolerant to cold winters
and White Tale Deer thrive near agriculture areas
– Eventually, the better adapted deer will survive and the other
will be forced to move or eat something else.
Real Life
• In one spruce tree, there can be many
species of birds
– Would there be competition even though
they have overlapping niches?
– Cape May Warblers live at the top of the tree and
feed on insects and spruce bud worms
– Yellow Warblers live at the base of the tree and feed
on insects and berries – tend to fly away from the
tree
– Black-throated green Warblers feed near the middle
on insects and berries
Humans Rule?
• For many species, humans are their
competitors
– What species do we compete with and what
resources do we share?
– Who do you think is “winning”
Survival of the Fittest
• Those species well adapted to their
environment will survive and poorly suited
species die out!!
– The best competitors get enough resources to survive and
reproduce
– The worst competitors do not survive to reproduce
– Through the “survival of the fittest” the stronger traits get
passed on
Avoidance Of Competition
• Sometimes species avoid competition by:
– Using a different food source
– Learning different habits and behaviors
• Example: hawks and owls can co-exist and eat the same
things ---- why?
Broad Niche vs. Narrow Niche
BROAD NICHE
NARROW NICHE
Usually found in Northern areas
Usually found in the tropics
Few different species of plants and animals but Lots of different species but low numbers of
very large populations of the species you do
each
find (caribou/arctic hare)
Adaptations allow species to spread over large
areas (found all over the world
Have adaptations that allow them to survive in
own environment but prevents them from
spreading to larger areas
Can tolerate daily and seasonal changes in
temperature
Where food supplies and temperatures are
stable
Eat a variety of plants or other animals as
seasons and conditions change
Have one dependable food source, one type of
soil or one level of light (increased competition
for food)
GENERALISTS
SPECIALISTS
Generalist vs. Specialist
• Based on their niche animals will be
considered generalists or specialists
THE GENERALIST
THE SPECIALIST
Able to spread over larger areas
Adapted to one small area competing
for one type of soil or level of light
Have many different food sources
Have one type of food source
Can survive many seasons
Need a constant temperature
Usually found in large numbers which
creates competition
Only a few in each area
Known to have a broad niche
Known to have a narrow niche
PROBLEMS???
• Do you see a problem with narrow niche
species?
– YES!!!!!!
– Explanation: narrow niche species fall into the
“trap of specialization”
Explanation continued…
• As the species competes it acquires more
useful adaptations
– Then the more successful it becomes
• HOWEVER…
– Its adaptations are focused to living in that ONE
environment and prevents it from going anywhere
else
Examples:
• The Lion-Tailed Monkey
– Is specialized at living in the forest canopies.
» As the forest is continually cut down, it has no where to
live since it is not adapted to living on the ground
• Giant Panda
– Is specialized and only eats ONE thing
• Through habitat destruction, they are vulnerable to
extinction
Some info
• Canadian ecosystems lack diversity but
support high numbers of the species that live
here
• Greatest diversity is found in the rainforest
followed by coral reefs
• The tropics have great diversity but low
populations of each species
Dependencies between Species
• In the competition to survive, many organisms
DO NOT work alone.
• Some species have a Symbiotic Relationship
» Symbiosis: Sym (together) Bios (life)
Mututalism
• Mututalism is where both organisms benefit
from the relationship
– Examples:
• Elk have mico-organisms that help them digest food. In
return, the elk gives the organism a place to live
• Clusia flower dispenses medicine to bees and in return
they get pollinated
Commensalism
• Commensalism is when only one organism
benefits from the relationship
– Examples:
• A robin uses a tree for shelter and nesting but the tree
does not benefit nor is harmed
• Barnacles on a whale
Parasitism
• Parasitism is where one organism benefits
while the other is harmed
– Examples
• People and tapeworms
• Rust and wheat
• Spruce tree and pine beetle
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCeyW9m0SXA
Introduced species (Bioinvasion)
• Humans sometimes things it is a good idea to import a
species from one area to another.
• Sometimes species move themselves (blown off course
or stole aways on a ship).
• Bioinvasion is when a new species, somehow, ends up
in a new ecosystem and starts to take over
Vocabulary from TOPIC 2
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Environment
Habitat
Niche
Competition
Broad vs. Narrow Niche
Generalist vs. Specialist
Symbiotic Relationship
Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Bio-invasion