HABITAT vs. NICHE
HABITAT
• A place where an organism lives
• An organism’s “address”
HABITAT
NICHE
• Full range of physical and biological
conditions in which an organism lives and
the way in which the organism uses
those conditions
–Space utilization
–Food consumption
–Living environment
–Mating conditions
NICHE
• An organism’s “occupation”
(ecological role)
• Competitive Exclusion Principle
–No two species can occupy the
same niche in the same habitat at
the same time
– Winner & loser
NICHE