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Ecological Niche and Competition
Concepts tested here
- Niche overlap
All Questions
2006 AIPMT-PRE 1 question
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Niche overlap indicates -The ecological niche of a species is its functional role in the community, including all the resources it uses and the conditions it needs.
When the niches of two species overlap, it means that the two species use one or more of the same resources, such as food, space or nesting sites.
The greater the overlap, the greater the competition between them when the shared resource is limited.
According to Gause's competitive exclusion principle, two closely related species competing for the same resources cannot co-exist indefinitely; one is eliminated unless they partition the resource.
Niche overlap therefore does not indicate cooperation or mutualism.
So niche overlap indicates the sharing of one or more resources between the two species.