Question

Select the incorrect statement with respect to ecological niche.

• A. It represents functional role and status of a species in the environment
• B. It represents trophic position of a few species in the environment
• C. It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources
• D. It is a component of habitat which is governed by functioning of an organism

Answer 1

The correct option is B It represents trophic position of a few species in the environment

Habitat is a place where an organism lives, it is like a home for the organism where all the environmental conditions suitable for its survival are present. For example, moist soil is the habitat of an earthworm.

The organism has a defined range of conditions that it can tolerate, diversity in the resources it utilises and a distinct functional role in the ecological system, all of which together comprise its niche. Therefore, a habitat is a place where an organism lives while a niche is that organism’s role within that environment. For example, earthworm act as “nature's plough” as they burrow through and turning over the soil in gardens and fields. Hence option a is correct.

Habitat focuses on how the environment impacts the organisms while niche focuses on how organisms impact the environment.

A niche will include the organism's role in the flow of energy through the ecosystem. The position of the organisms within the community and the ecosystem results from the organism's structural and functional adaptations, the role it plays or the food it eats. It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors. For example, earthworms increase the fertility of soil and take shelter in the soil. Hence option c and d are correct.

Niche does not represent the trophic position of species. Trophic levels or positions are depicted in food chains and food webs. A single organism can occupy different trophic levels in different food chains but its niche in an ecosystem remains constant. For example, being a decomposer earthworm can be a part of different trophic levels, based on the food chain. Hence option b is incorrect.

Figure : Ecological niche of an earthworm