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Beeby & Brennan: First Ecology - Ecological Principles and Environmental Issues 3e

5. Species assemblages and niche

Ecological niche and speciation

Case study 5a - Being different as an adaptive strategy

  1. Section 2.5 - principles of niche differentiation; co-evolution as a consequence of filling the same functional role in different localities

  2. Section 4.3 - sub-section on competitive types - the value of being different

  3. Section 5.1 - bird and lizard niche differentiation in mediterranean woodlands

  4. Box 4.2 - variability in growth and behaviour of the snail Cantareus aspersus

  5. Box 2.4 - selective pressure and genetic change in an extreme environment


Case study 5b - Niche differentiation under different conditions

  1. Section 9.3 - theoretical speculations and models on the limits of species richness and ecosystem stability

  2. Section 9.4 - suggestions on why there are more species close to the equator

  3. Section 2.5 - competition and sympatric speciation - the benefits of becoming specialised and defining your own niche

  4. Case study 2 - speciation prompted by isolation and environmental change

  5. Section 2.6 - sub-section on 'man-made' species - the ease with which some plants will hybridize

  6. Section 4.3 - competition, speciation and life history strategies in different environments


Species assemblages and community function

Case study 5c - functional roles and functional redundancy in soils

  1. Section 9.3 -theory and observation on functional redundancy, including the roles assumed by fungi, bacteria and invertebrates in Northern temperate soils

  2. Section 8.2 - functional roles of invertebrates in savanna and other soils

  3. Section 5.1 - sub-section Animal Communities - the soil invertebrates in each of the mediterranean regions

  4. Box 7.1 - the role of decomposer organisms in the development of a soil profile