The plants and animals will generally spend most of their lives within one of these layers, although many species of animal will visit other layers as well. A second adaptive strategy is time. Each species has a particular period of maximum activity during the twenty-four hour day. The beaver, for example, is nocturnal or mostly active at night. In this way the beaver, like other herbivores, is more likely to avoid predators.
Many carnivores are nocturnal because it is during the night that their intended prey is active.
Owls hunt small mammals at night. Hawks, which are daytime hunters, prey on animals that are active during daylight hours. In this way, owls and hawks may occupy the same habitat, but have very different ecological niches.