Habitat & Niche
Organisms can be found living everywhere across the globe. From the searing heat of desserts like the Sahara to the icy cold of both
Antarctica and our own Canadian Arctic. Life is everywhere. And life depends on both biotic and abiotic that it encountes to survive.
Habitat
The place where living organisms survive and carry on from generation to generation is called their HABITAT.
The word habitat means the physical space where the species is found. A habitat describes the area and particular environment in which
the organism can and does survive. In any particular habitat many different species can coexist together.
Niche
A NICHE refers to the organism’s role or job in that community of habitat. A species roll in a community depends entirely upon
what habitat it is found in, NOT on what the species is. For example, take a snake. A snake living in a forest has a rather different role to
play than one living in the Arizona desert. They will eat different foods, hunt different prey, etc. Each creature in a habitat will have its own
roll or niche to play for the community to be a successful ecosystem; different species will consume different foods and have different needs.