In order for a population to survive the organisms must be able to adapt to the environment, be capable of getting energy and nutrients, they must know how to cope with competition and avoid any predators and all these requirement form what is known as the ecological niche. A niche is “a role taken by a type of organism within its community”. How the Development of Ecological Niches has Aided Our Understanding of Competition and Resource Partitioning. When a different species take on the same ecological niche, one of two things can happen:- 1. Gauses Competitive Exclusion Principle, this occurs when one of the two types of species is stronger and therefore more successful than the other. The successful organism will survive and the other will …show more content…
The idea of ecological niches has aided in the understanding of competition because it prevents overcrowding in a habitat as it promotes survival of the fittest. Therefore this is an example of interspecific competition where the fittest animal occupying the same niche eliminates the weaker specie(s). But two organisms can reside in the same habitat only if they occupy different niches, an example of this is the predator-prey relationship. Predation “is a biological interaction where one species, the predator, kills and eats another species which is known as the prey.” The role the predator plays is important because it helps maintain a greater diversity in the ecosystem. Since the predator-prey relationship works to maintain diversity in the ecosystem, it can be observed that as the prey decreases because of the predator killings, the food of the predator becomes less and therefore there is a decline in the predator species. With fewer predators around, the population of the prey increases and the cycle