niches

• why is experimental ecology hard?

   the number of variables are very high and you can never replicate a proper ecosystem. Taking away variables does not mean you are controlling them and if these are influential, they might change your results.
• what is an adaption?

  a feature that members of the same species have that increases their chance of survvial and reproduction in their habitat.
• Organisms in a species with better adaptations to their environment are more likely to .....


  survive and reproduce and pass on the alleles that code for these adaptations – this increases the frequency of these alleles in the population.
• how does evolution occur?

  natural selection means those adaptations become more common in the population, this can eventualy lead to evolution of a species
• how are species able to occupy their own unique niche

  Every species has had to adapt to use the ecosystem in a way no other species can
• explain the diffrence between a community and a population

  A community is populations of different species living in the same environment or habitat. A population is a group of the same species living in the same environment or habitat. 
• what is an ecosystem

  An ecosystem is all the organisms living in a community plus all the non-living abiotic conditions in the area (the habitat). 
• name two ways in which an ecosystem is different to a community

  an ecosystem contains non living elements
• Give a biotic and an abiotic factor that can affect an ecosystem and its inhabitants.

  Biotic: competition, predation, pathogens. Abiotic: temperature, pH or soil or water, water availability
• write a definition for the term niche

  The role of a species within its ecosystem or community
• why is it important that species occupy diffrent niches

  to reduce competetion and increase survival survival of both species
• what is an adaption

  An adaptation is a feature that members of the same species have that increases their chance of survvial and reproduction in their habitat.
• how do adaptions occur

  Occur through natural selection: Organisms in a species with better adaptations to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce and pass on the alleles that code for these adaptations – this increases the frequency of these alleles in the population.
• In what ways can niches differ?

  Niches can be abiotic or biotic and niches can be separated by time, location, or behaviour.
• What is the problem with trying to demonstrate niche separation artificially?

  The number of variables are very high and you can never replicate a proper ecosystem. Taking away variables does not mean you are controlling them and if these are influential, they might change your results.