Ecological Niche Examples

Kirtland’s Warbler

It is a rare bird whose niche is a jack pine forest that nests on the ground beneath the branches when the tree is about 5 feet tall. However, it won’t nest longer when the lower branches start to die when the tree reaches 16-20 feet tall. Naturally occurring wildfires in this area produced the steady availability of young jack pines for breeding. Human intervention by controlling forest fires severely affected its population. However, setting aside jack pine forest areas for habitat management by harvesting, burning, seeding, and replanting allowed species to rebound.

Dung beetle

These feed dung both as adults and as larvae. Dung beetles spin dung into balls that can be used as brooding balls or stored as food and are buried in an underground burrow  Females lay eggs in the ball, where larva hatch and develop into adults that dig out of the ball and make their way to the soil surface. These aerate the soul as well as control the fly’s population.

Xerophytic Plants

To survive in dry ecological niches, xerophytic plants have evolved several adaptations that include the presence of thick fleshy leaves to store water, long roots to access water deep underground, the ability to fold up their leaves during the dry period, stomatal opening in the night time and closing at day time to prevent water loss during daytime.

Extremophiles

Extremophiles are adapted to thrive in hostile environments. It includes acidophiles, thermophiles, barophiles, etc., with some polyextremophiles. Their enzymes are crucial for biotechnological applications.