The Fundamental Niche Concept Connects Individuals to Populations: A Comment on Angilletta et al.

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1509-1510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R Kearney
1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 39-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Simpkin

The fundamental niche concept provides a means of describing the structure and diversity of an activated sludge microbial community. The concept explains community diversity by describing the many traits of each microorganism species and how these traits may or may not be involved in providing the mechanism for the specie to proliferate in a given environment. This paper develops the concept of the fundamental niche as it relates to activated sludge communities. The ability to denitrify is provided as an example of how the concept may be used to explain the proliferation of denitrifying microorganisms under non-denitrifying conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Trappes

AbstractNiche construction theory (NCT) aims to transform and unite evolutionary biology and ecology. Much of the debate about NCT has focused on construction. Less attention has been accorded to the niche: what is it, exactly, that organisms are constructing? In this paper I compare and contrast the definition of the niche used in NCT with ecological niche definitions. NCT’s concept of the evolutionary niche is defined as the sum of selection pressures affecting a population. So defined, the evolutionary niche is narrower than the ecological niche. Moreover, when contrasted with a more restricted ecological niche concept, it has a slightly different extension. I point out three kinds of cases in which the evolutionary niche does not coincide with realized ecological niches: extreme habitat degradation, commensalism, and non-limiting or super-abundant resources. These conceptual differences affect the role of NCT in unifying ecology and evolutionary biology.


2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (12) ◽  
pp. 985-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A. Shaughnessy ◽  
E.C. Anderson ◽  
M. Kasparian ◽  
J.M. LaMontagne ◽  
J.S. Bystriansky

Overfishing of top predators along the western Atlantic coastline has led to a trophic cascade in salt marshes, with increases in herbivorous purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum (Say, 1817)) abundances in North American estuaries leading to overgrazing of cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel.) and shoreline erosion. To evaluate potential physiological limits on the range of S. reticulatum within an estuary, we evaluated survival and physiological tolerance of S. reticulatum from the Ashepoo–Combhee–Edisto (ACE) River Basin in South Carolina, USA, to combinations of salinity (5‰ and 30‰) and pH (pH 6.6, 7.6, and 8.6) challenges, representative of estuarine extremes. Survival, haemolymph ion concentrations, and gill Na+,K+-ATPase (NKA) and vacuolar-type H+-ATPase (VHA) activity were measured after a 48 h exposure to each experimental condition. Survival was nearly 100% and osmoregulatory control was maintained across estuarine salinity and pH ranges. Sesarma reticulatum appeared to be robust to all potential combinations of salinity and pH stressors examined in this study, and therefore are likely unrestricted in their fundamental niche based on these stressors throughout an estuary.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 2168-2177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne C Materna ◽  
Jonathan Friedman ◽  
Claudia Bauer ◽  
Christina David ◽  
Sara Chen ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reda Hassanine ◽  
Mohammed Al-Jahdali

AbstractBetween May and September 2006, 640 specimens of the rabbitfish Siganus rivulatus Forsskål (Teleostei, Siganidae) were examined for infections with intestinal helminths. These fishes were caught in the Red Sea off the coast of Sharm El-Sheikh, South Sinai, Egypt, examined in a field laboratory and separated into three size groups of regular length intervals. Only three species of helminths were recovered: the trematode Gyliauchen volubilis Nagaty, 1956 (Gyliauchenidae Fukui, 1929), the acanthocephalan Sclerocollum rubrimaris Schmidt et Paperna, 1978 (Cavisomidae Meyer, 1932) and the nematode Procamallanus elatensis Fusco et Overstreet, 1979 (Cucullanidae Cobbold, 1864). The distribution of these helminths along the intestine of S. rivulatus, in all patterns of single and concurrent infections and the corresponding prevalences and intensities of infection in the different size groups of the fish were recorded. In single infections, each parasite species was found distributed in a well-defined fundamental niche along the intestine of Siganus rivulatus, and a distinct partial overlap between the niches of G. volubilis and Sclerocollum rubrimaris was observed. In concurrent infections with these two species, their fundamental niches were significantly reduced, probably being affected by interactive site segregation and individuals of each species were found segregated in a restricted realised niche. In all other patterns of concurrent infections, each parasite species was normally found in its original fundamental niche. The prevalences of these parasites in the fish examined were relatively low and somewhat similar. In all patterns of single and concurrent infections, the intensity of infection was directly related to fish size. In concurrent infection with G. volubilis and S. rubrimaris, a significant decline was observed in the intensities of both species in the different size groups of the fish, but, in all other patterns of concurrent infections, no significant change in intensity was observed. These observations suggest that the interaction between G. volubilis and S. rubrimaris is probably a negative and symmetrical one. The mode of transmission of these parasites to the fish is also discussed.


Author(s):  
Stephen J. Simpson ◽  
David Raubenheimer

This chapter assesses the consequences of individual nutrition for populations and the assemblages of species that comprise ecological communities. However, the ecological consequences of nutrition are not restricted to the effects of diet on individual organisms but include as well the direct and indirect interactions occurring among individuals within populations and between species. Understanding the complex network of interactions that produce food webs and structure ecosystem dynamics requires the understanding of the participants' differing nutritional requirements, priorities, and regulatory capacities. Geometric Framework analyses have shown that these features differ between species and across trophic levels. Nutritional space is one part of the fundamental niche of an organism, and there is a need to integrate nutrition with the biophysical ecology of organisms. Evolutionary processes also need to be taken into account, and agent-based models offer promise toward development of a new understanding of the evolutionary ecology of nutrition.


Author(s):  
David A. Faria ◽  
Wilma Smith

A study was done to develop various innovative transportation strategies to address the changing travel needs of Arlington, Texas, residents. The study was guided by the Arlington Community Transportation Study Committee. It developed the transportation niche concept: the ability to use alternative community transportation services to address specific needs of the community in different parts of the city. Five high-priority niches were studied in detail. The success of the individual niches in particular and the integrated transportation system in general will rely heavily on the cooperation and coordination between the public and the private sectors and the acceptance of the niche concept by the general public.


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