Ecological Niches: Linking Classical and Contemporary Approaches
Jonathan M. Chase and Mathew A. Leibold
Abstract
Why do species live where they live? What determines the abundance and diversity of species in a given area? What role do species play in the functioning of entire ecosystems? All of these questions share a single core concept—the ecological niche. Although the niche concept has fallen into disfavor among ecologists in recent years, this book argues that the niche is an ideal tool with which to unify disparate research and theoretical approaches in contemporary ecology. The authors define the niche as including both what an organism needs from its environment and how that organism's activities ... More
Why do species live where they live? What determines the abundance and diversity of species in a given area? What role do species play in the functioning of entire ecosystems? All of these questions share a single core concept—the ecological niche. Although the niche concept has fallen into disfavor among ecologists in recent years, this book argues that the niche is an ideal tool with which to unify disparate research and theoretical approaches in contemporary ecology. The authors define the niche as including both what an organism needs from its environment and how that organism's activities shape its environment. Drawing on the theory of consumer–resource interactions, as well as its graphical analysis, they develop a framework for understanding niches that is flexible enough to include a variety of small- and large-scale processes, from resource competition, predation, and stress to community structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem function.
Keywords:
species,
abundance,
diversity,
ecosystems,
ecological niche,
ecology,
organism,
environment,
consumer–resource interactions,
graphical analysis
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2003 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226101798 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: February 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226101811.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Jonathan M. Chase, author
Mathew A. Leibold, author
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