available (e.g., Green, 1979; Spellerberg, 1991; Underwood, 1994; Clarke and Gorley, 2006; Schmitt and
Osenberg, 1996). With care in the formulation of objectives and skillful advanced planning of the procedures,
monitoring provides good information to enable logical
and precautionary responses to environmental change.
Bibliography
Bender, E. A., Case, T. J., and Gilpin, M. E., 1984. Perturbation
experiments in community ecology: theory and practice.
Ecology, 65, 1–13.
Clarke, K. R., and Gorley, R. N., 2006. Primer V6: User Manual.
Plymouth: Primer-E Ltd.
Dovers, S. R., and Handmer, J. W., 1995. Ignorance, the precautionary principle, and sustainability. Ambio, 24Z, 92–97.
Gray, J. S., 1996. Environmental science and a precautionary
approach revisited. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 32, 532–534.
Green, R. H., 1979. Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for
Environmental Biologists. Chichester: Wiley.
Hurlbert, S. J., 1984. Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological
field experiments. Ecological Monographs, 54, 187–211.
Schmitt, R. J., and Osenberg, C. W. (eds.), 1996. Detecting Ecological Impacts: Concepts and Applications in Coastal Habitats.
San Diego: Academic Press.
Spellerberg, I. F., 1991. Monitoring Ecological Change.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stewart-Oaten, A., Murdoch, W. M., and Parker, K. R., 1986.
Environmental impact assessment: ‘pseudoreplication’ in time?
Ecology, 67, 929–940.
Underwood, A. J., 1994. On beyond BACI: sampling designs that
might reliably detect environmental disturbances. Ecological
Applications, 4, 3–15.
Underwood, A. J., and Chapman, M. G., 2013. Design and analysis
in benthic surveys in environmental sampling. In Eleftheriou,
A. (ed.), Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos, 4th edn.
Chichester: Wiley, pp. 1–46.
Cross-references
Anthropogenic Impacts
Climate Change
Coastal Indicators
Water Quality
ECOLOGICAL NICHE
Xchel Moreno-Sánchez
1
, Andrés Abitia-Cárdenas
1
,
Juan M. Rodríguez-Baron
2
, Mónica Lara Uc
2 and
Rafael Riosmena-Rodríguez
2
1
Instituto Politécnico Nacional CICIMAR-IPN, La Paz,
BCS, Mexico
2
Programa de Investigación en Botãnica Marina,
Departamento Académico de Biología Marina,
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz,
Baja California Sur, Mexico
Synonyms
Hutchinsonian niche
Definition
The ecological niche comprises the total physical space
within which the individuals of a species survive, grow,
and reproduce. The dimensions or limits defined for this
space constitute an abstract concept, not only a volume
in space.
The niche concept is one of the most important
concepts in ecology, although it is one of the most
confusing (Root, 1967). The first general idea of the
niche concept was proposed by Grinell (1917), who
established it as a measure of the geographic distribution of an organism, without explicitly using the term
niche. With time, new proposals have arisen, but in
essence, in every case the niche is considered not just
as physical space, it also includes the environmental
factors that can affect organisms, the means that they
use to obtain food, and their relations with other organisms (e.g., competition, predation) (Elton, 1966; Whittaker and Levin, 1975; Krebs, 1985).
The term niche describes not only where an organism lives but also how it lives (Townsend et al.,
2008). The most accepted definition of niche was the
one proposed by Hutchinson (1957), who stated
that the ecological niche includes all physical and biological variables that affect the good functioning of an
organism. This he called the multidimensional niche
or hypervolume; this last term refers to upper and
lower intervals, or thresholds of survival of the species
within limiting variables. This puts in context the
ways in which tolerance and requirements interact to
define the conditions and needs that an individual or
species have in order to live. It should be noted that
different organisms have different tolerances to limiting
conditions (e.g., temperature, pH, relative humidity,
wind velocity, water flow, etc.), as well as different
needs for several resources (e.g., water, nutrients, food,
etc.), so that the niche concept is without doubt
multidimensional.
It has been proposed that the fundamental niche of
a species can change slowly under natural selection.
Models have been developed that, along with population
dynamics and genetics in heterogeneous environments,
have resulted in predicting that the rate of adaptation of
the fundamental niche would often be slower than the process of extinction.
Bibliography
Elton, C. S., 1966. The Pattern of Animal and Plants. London:
Methuen.
Grinnell, J., 1917. The niche-relationships of the California
thrasher. In Whittaker, R. H., and Levin, S. A. (eds.), The Niche
Theory and Application. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson
and Ross, p. 448.
Hutchinson, G. E., 1957. Concluding remarks. Cold Spring Harbor
Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 22, 415–427.
Krebs, C. J., 1985. Ecologı ´a: Estudio de la Distribución
y la Abundancia, 2nd edn. México: Editorial Mexicana, p. 753.
ECOLOGICAL NICHE
227
Osenberg, 1996). With care in the formulation of objectives and skillful advanced planning of the procedures,
monitoring provides good information to enable logical
and precautionary responses to environmental change.
Bibliography
Bender, E. A., Case, T. J., and Gilpin, M. E., 1984. Perturbation
experiments in community ecology: theory and practice.
Ecology, 65, 1–13.
Clarke, K. R., and Gorley, R. N., 2006. Primer V6: User Manual.
Plymouth: Primer-E Ltd.
Dovers, S. R., and Handmer, J. W., 1995. Ignorance, the precautionary principle, and sustainability. Ambio, 24Z, 92–97.
Gray, J. S., 1996. Environmental science and a precautionary
approach revisited. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 32, 532–534.
Green, R. H., 1979. Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for
Environmental Biologists. Chichester: Wiley.
Hurlbert, S. J., 1984. Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological
field experiments. Ecological Monographs, 54, 187–211.
Schmitt, R. J., and Osenberg, C. W. (eds.), 1996. Detecting Ecological Impacts: Concepts and Applications in Coastal Habitats.
San Diego: Academic Press.
Spellerberg, I. F., 1991. Monitoring Ecological Change.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stewart-Oaten, A., Murdoch, W. M., and Parker, K. R., 1986.
Environmental impact assessment: ‘pseudoreplication’ in time?
Ecology, 67, 929–940.
Underwood, A. J., 1994. On beyond BACI: sampling designs that
might reliably detect environmental disturbances. Ecological
Applications, 4, 3–15.
Underwood, A. J., and Chapman, M. G., 2013. Design and analysis
in benthic surveys in environmental sampling. In Eleftheriou,
A. (ed.), Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos, 4th edn.
Chichester: Wiley, pp. 1–46.
Cross-references
Anthropogenic Impacts
Climate Change
Coastal Indicators
Water Quality
ECOLOGICAL NICHE
Xchel Moreno-Sánchez
1
, Andrés Abitia-Cárdenas
1
,
Juan M. Rodríguez-Baron
2
, Mónica Lara Uc
2 and
Rafael Riosmena-Rodríguez
2
1
Instituto Politécnico Nacional CICIMAR-IPN, La Paz,
BCS, Mexico
2
Programa de Investigación en Botãnica Marina,
Departamento Académico de Biología Marina,
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz,
Baja California Sur, Mexico
Synonyms
Hutchinsonian niche
Definition
The ecological niche comprises the total physical space
within which the individuals of a species survive, grow,
and reproduce. The dimensions or limits defined for this
space constitute an abstract concept, not only a volume
in space.
The niche concept is one of the most important
concepts in ecology, although it is one of the most
confusing (Root, 1967). The first general idea of the
niche concept was proposed by Grinell (1917), who
established it as a measure of the geographic distribution of an organism, without explicitly using the term
niche. With time, new proposals have arisen, but in
essence, in every case the niche is considered not just
as physical space, it also includes the environmental
factors that can affect organisms, the means that they
use to obtain food, and their relations with other organisms (e.g., competition, predation) (Elton, 1966; Whittaker and Levin, 1975; Krebs, 1985).
The term niche describes not only where an organism lives but also how it lives (Townsend et al.,
2008). The most accepted definition of niche was the
one proposed by Hutchinson (1957), who stated
that the ecological niche includes all physical and biological variables that affect the good functioning of an
organism. This he called the multidimensional niche
or hypervolume; this last term refers to upper and
lower intervals, or thresholds of survival of the species
within limiting variables. This puts in context the
ways in which tolerance and requirements interact to
define the conditions and needs that an individual or
species have in order to live. It should be noted that
different organisms have different tolerances to limiting
conditions (e.g., temperature, pH, relative humidity,
wind velocity, water flow, etc.), as well as different
needs for several resources (e.g., water, nutrients, food,
etc.), so that the niche concept is without doubt
multidimensional.
It has been proposed that the fundamental niche of
a species can change slowly under natural selection.
Models have been developed that, along with population
dynamics and genetics in heterogeneous environments,
have resulted in predicting that the rate of adaptation of
the fundamental niche would often be slower than the process of extinction.
Bibliography
Elton, C. S., 1966. The Pattern of Animal and Plants. London:
Methuen.
Grinnell, J., 1917. The niche-relationships of the California
thrasher. In Whittaker, R. H., and Levin, S. A. (eds.), The Niche
Theory and Application. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson
and Ross, p. 448.
Hutchinson, G. E., 1957. Concluding remarks. Cold Spring Harbor
Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 22, 415–427.
Krebs, C. J., 1985. Ecologı ´a: Estudio de la Distribución
y la Abundancia, 2nd edn. México: Editorial Mexicana, p. 753.
ECOLOGICAL NICHE
227