Ecological Niches
Subtitle: Linking Classical and Contemporary Approaches (Interspecific Interactions)
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Published: July 1, 2003
Language: eng
Number of pages: 216
ISBN-13: 9780226101804
First sentence: This book is directed at reinterpreting and reevaluating the concept of the niche within the framework of recent developments in ecology.
Description: Although the niche concept has fallen into disfavour 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.