The concept of a niche in biology refers to a specialized area that certain species are optimized for, such as predator, grazer, hunter-gatherer, scavenger, and vermin. The first niche was occupied by chemotrophs, followed by photosynthesizers. The rainforest is a good example of niche differentiation for plants, with different layers and specialized plants. Animals can be categorized as predators, consumers, and omnivores, with a pyramidal structure in ecologies.
In biology or ecology, a niche is a specialized area that evolution optimizes certain species for. Some examples are predator, grazer, hunter-gatherer, scavenger, and vermin. Examples of animals that occupy those niches are lions, deer, humans, vultures and roundworms. There are many different ways to determine and list these areas, including many possible levels of specificity.
The first niche was probably occupied by chemotrophs, microorganisms that gained energy from the environment by oxidizing inorganic compounds such as sulphates. A couple billion years later, the chemotrophs were followed by photosynthesizers, or producers/autotrophs, who gained their energy by using the sun’s rays, carbon dioxide, and water to generate ATP, the cell’s energy currency. . These organisms were cyanobacteria and persist in large numbers to this day. More modern autotrophs include trees, flowering plants, and vines.
For plants, the rainforest may be the best example of niche differentiation. There are plants that expend large amounts of energy in being taller than others, and they constitute what is called the emergent layer. They can spread out their branches and absorb light without competition, but must put so much energy into growth that the size of their foliage at the top is limited. Then there’s the canopy layer, which tries to be just average, absorbing all the energy it can while competing with nearby plants. Under the canopy are various specialized plants, such as vines, and even carnivorous plants, such as the carnivorous plant. All of these evolutionary strategies represent a distinct niche. Each can be occupied by hundreds or thousands of competing organisms.
Among animals, the main categories are predators, consumers and omnivores. There are unusual variants in these categories, such as scavengers and vermin. Ecologies tend to have a pyramidal structure, with producers being most organisms, followed by consumers, then predators.
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