Realized Niche Research Paper

TAKE HOME – ONLINE SUBMISSION BY 3/20/18 2:00pm
36) Define fundamental niche and realized niche. Give an example of a fundamental niche becoming a realized niche. Make sure to describe the driving pressures for this change.
A fundamental niche can be described as the nth regions in which a species may exist. This means that based on the current conditions of the species habitat, they should be able to exist in all regions that meet their need. A realized niche is the defined and bounded regions in which a species exists. This can be due to factors such as geography, the barriers if large bodies of water or mountain ranges. An example of a fundamental niche and a realized niche is the location in which sparrows feed. Though sparrows can eat berries from all branches of a bush, the fundamental niche, the pressure of predation has made it so they feed on the innermost branches, the realized niche to avoid predators. Another example is the species, penguin. Penguins are found in various climate regions and biomes but only in the southern hemisphere. Though they can exist in those same regions in the norther hemisphere, they do not. While the northern and southern hemispheres are their fundamental niche, their realized niche is the couther hemisphere.

37) Describe phenotypic plasticity. How may this influence natural selection

Forbes found that in shallower areas of the lakes he studied, there were abundant populations of weeds, water fowl and crustaceans. When deeper lake areas were dredged, he found few species and attributed it to the low quality of the soil along the lake bed stating, “These inhabit a black, deep, and almost impalpable mud or ooze, too soft and unstable to afford foothold to plants even if the lake is shallow enough to admit a sufficient quantity of light” (Forbes