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Environmental Science
Ecological Modeling

Niches and Niche Models

Profile image of Katie H MorrowKatie H Morrow

The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science

Abstract

The niche has been central to ecology for most of the discipline's history, yet there have been few attempts by philosophers to work out the ontology of the niche. A challenge is that there is a plurality of seemingly inconsistent definitions of the niche in ecology. This paper characterizes the population-level ecological niche by distinguishing among niche concepts, niche models, and the niche as a phenomenon. I argue that "niche concepts" should be interpreted as theoretical frameworks or modelling strategies. I also argue that there is a unified niche phenomenon underlying the seemingly heterogeneous models and definitions. The plurality of niche concepts in ecology should be seen as an expected consequence of the nature of modelling complex systems.

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Niche, habitat, and related ecological concepts
Marcel Rejmanek

Acta Biotheoretica, 1975

Received 27-VIII-I974; revised 2I-I-I975) SUMMARY DARWIN'S phrase "place in natural economy", and SPENCER'S term "correspondence" can be regarded as first attempts to express the organism-environment relationships. The same concept has more recently been approached from the point of view of (I) life-form, (2) external activities, and habitat. Though all these points are interlocking, they have been stressed differently in the writings of American and European ecologists. It is proposed that the term "niche" would be most useful and rational if applied to the total of relationships between a living organism (population, species) and its complete environment, both biotic and abiotic.

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Niches and distributional areas: Concepts, methods, and assumptions
Tania Alonso

Estimating actual and potential areas of distribution of species via ecological niche modeling has become a very active field of research, yet important conceptual issues in this field remain confused. We argue that conceptual clarity is enhanced by adopting restricted definitions of ''niche'' that enable operational definitions of basic concepts like fundamental, potential, and realized niches and potential and actual distributional areas. We apply these definitions to the question of niche conservatism, addressing what it is that is conserved and showing with a quantitative example how niche change can be measured. In this example, we display the extremely irregular structure of niche space, arguing that it is an important factor in understanding niche evolution. Many cases of apparently successful models of distributions ignore biotic factors: we suggest explanations to account for this paradox. Finally, relating the probability of observing a species to ecological factors, we address the issue of what objects are actually calculated by different niche modeling algorithms and stress the fact that methods that use only presence data calculate very different quantities than methods that use absence data. We conclude that the results of niche modeling exercises can be interpreted much better if the ecological and mathematical assumptions of the modeling process are made explicit.

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A brief introduction to niche construction theory for ecologists and conservationists
Washington Ferreira

Biological Conservation, 2019

Niche construction theory (NCT) is a theoretical framework that has great potential for increasing our understanding of ecological and evolutionary phenomena. However, few ecologists still use NCT, probably because they believe that ecological and evolutionary processes do not occur at the same pace or because they believe that the modern evolutionary synthesis (MES) explains the studied phenomena well enough. NCT is not opposed to the MES. However, NCT proponents argue that because all organisms undergo environmental modifications, they can alter the selection pressures that act on themselves and other species. In this case, adaptation is conceived as a two-way process in which organisms and the environment act upon one another. Therefore, this article aims to present a brief introduction of NCT, arguing and exemplifying its applicability in ecological studies and conservation strategies. Finally, we provide suggestions about how NCT can contribute to ecological studies and the planning of conservation strategies.

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Niche construction in the light of niche theory
Michel Loreau

Ecology Letters, 2010

Ecological niche construction, the process whereby an organism improves its environment to enhance its growth and persistence, is an important missing element of niche theory. Niche theory has mainly focused on niche-deteriorating processes, such as resource consumption, predation and competition, which have negative effects on population growth. Here, we integrate niche construction explicitly into modern niche theory. We use a graphical approach to analyse how a speciesÕ niche-improving impacts interplay with nichedeteriorating impacts to modify its response to the environment. In a model of two consumers that compete for one limiting resource and one predator, we show how niche construction modifies the traditional nichedeteriorating impacts of its agent or of competing species, and hence the potential for species coexistence. By altering the balance between intraspecific and interspecific competitive effects, niche construction can either generate net interspecific facilitation or strengthen interspecific competition. The adaptive benefit derived from niche construction also strongly affects the realized niche of a niche-constructing species.

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Linking ecological niche, community ecology and biogeography: insights from a mechanistic niche model
Juliano Sarmento Cabral

Journal of Biogeography, 2012

Aim We present a mechanistic niche model that integrates the demography of competing plant species in a metabolic, stochastic framework. In order to explore the model's ability to generate multiple species and community patterns, we assessed trait composition, richness gradients and spatial distributions of species ranges and abundances of simulated communities.

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Introduction to niches and mechanisms in ecology and evolution
Ulrich Krohs

Biology & Philosophy

Niches and mechanisms are two important but contested elements in the study of organism-environment interactions. Although they are closely interrelated, with niches playing a crucial role in theorizing about ecological and evolutionary mechanisms such as niche construction, facilitation, and species invasion, philosophical discussions about each issue have been largely disconnected. This collection addresses this gap, bringing together contributions from philosophers and biologists about the niche concept, niche construction theory, and ecological and evolutionary mechanisms. In this introduction we provide some background to the collection, which arose out of two workshops organized within an interdisciplinary research consortium. We also summarize each contribution, organized roughly into three groups with considerable overlap and interrelations: niche construction and evolutionary theory, niches, and ecological and evolutionary mechanisms.

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1. The Niche Hiker's Guide to Population Ecology: A Logical Reconstruction of Organization Ecology's Niche Theory
Gábor Péli

Sociological Methodology, 1997

Logical formalization is a formal method for the analysis of theoretical arguments in the social sciences. Hannan and Freeman's organizational niche theory (1989) is rebuilt by means of First-Order Logic, and its predictions are derived as theorems. Translation into a formal language makes the theory's inference structure transparent and accessible to discussion, repair, and development. The consistency of the model can be checked by computational means. The logical approach helps to specify niche theory's domain; it points out hidden assumptions, highlights spots where the reasoning has to be modified, and provides solid foundations for further theory building. Moreover, the established premise set also allows for the deduction of some new results. Logical formalization supports empirical research by delineating constraints on and explicit relations between sociological concepts, facilitating their appropriate operationalization

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Neutral and Niche Theory in Community Ecology: A Framework for Comparing Model Realism
Katie H Morrow

Biology and Philosophy, 2024

Ecological neutral theory has been controversial as an alternative to niche theory for explaining community structure. Neutral theory, which explains community structure in terms of ecological drift, is frequently charged with being unrealistic, but commentators have usually not provided an account of theory or model realism. In this paper, I propose a framework for comparing the "realism" or accuracy of alternative theories within a domain with respect to the extent to which the theories abstract and idealize. Using this framework I argue, contrary to most previous commentators, that neutral and niche theories are similarly realistic. Realism cannot provide a basis for accepting or rejecting either type of theory; instead, community ecologists should continue working with a plurality of models. While theoretical unification may become possible, we should treat a plurality of complementary, partial models as the expected situation within community ecology.

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INTERPRETATION OF MODELS OF FUNDAMENTAL ECOLOGICAL NICHES AND SPECIES' DISTRIBUTIONAL AREAS
Jorge Soberon

2005

Estimation of the dimensions of fundamental ecological niches of species to predict their geographic distributions is increasingly being attempted in systematics, ecology, conservation, public health, etc. This technique is often (of necessity) based on data comprising records of presences only. In recent years, modeling approaches have been devised to estimate these interrelated expressions of a species' ecology, distributional biology, and evolutionary history-nevertheless, a formal basis in ecological and evolutionary theory has largely been lacking. In this paper, we outline such a formal basis to clarify the use of techniques applied to the challenge of estimating 'ecological niches;' we analyze example situations that can be modeled using these techniques, and clarify interpretation of results.

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What does ecological modelling model? A proposed classification of ecological niche models based on their underlying methods
Neftalí Sillero

Ecological Modelling, 2011

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The Ecological Niche: History and Recent Controversies
Arnaud Pocheville

Handbook for Evolutionary Thinking - Springer, 2015

In this chapter, we first trace the history of the concept of ecological niche and see how its meanings varied with the search for a theory of ecology. The niche concept has its roots in the Darwinian view of ecosystems that are structured by struggle for survival and, originally, the niche was perceived as an invariant place within the ecosystem, that would preexist the assembly of the ecosystem. The concept then slipped towards a sense in which the niche, no longer a pre-existing ecosystem structure, eventually became a variable that would in turn have to be explained by the competitive exclusion principle and the coevolution of species. The niche concept used at that time, while more operational from an empirical point of view than the previous one, suffered however from an ill-founded definition. A recent refoundation by Chase & Leibold enabled to overcome some of the definitional difficulties. We then present how, in contemporary ecology, the niche concept is recruited to explain biodiversity and species coexistence patterns. We show how, in parallel, neutralist models, by succeedingly explaining some ecological patterns without resorting to explanations in terms of niche, have questioned the explanatory virtues of the niche concept. In conclusion, it seems that the forunes and misfortunes of the niche concept can be seen as a reflection of the difficulties of ecology to give birth to a theory that would be both predictive and explanatory.

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Representing the Dimensions of an Ecological Niche
Deana Pennington

2006

Niche theory has driven a century of ecological investigations and has been the starting point for the few studies in existence of ecological ontology. This study investigates how scientists conceptualize niche theory, and uses that information to develop a high level ontological framework. That framework includes process, theory, entities, experiments, space, and time. These components are linked in different ways by different disciplinary perspectives, and the context of space and time differs depending on that linkage. Examples are provided to illustrate the representational issues involved.

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Ditch the niche - is the niche a useful concept in ecology or species distribution modelling?
Rampal Etienne

Journal of Biogeography, 2012

In this first of three papers we examine the use of niche concepts in ecology and especially in species distribution modelling (SDM). This paper deliberately focuses on the lack of clarity found in the term 'niche'. Because its meanings are so diverse, the term niche tends to create confusion and requires constant qualification. The literature houses many idiosyncratic ideas of what the niche is, but few examples where niche is more explanatory than the terminologies of population and community ecology or the statistical methods used to implement SDM analyses. In many cases the original (and inspirational) concepts are not directly applicable to our modern applications (e.g. set theory). There are some conceptual limitations found in individual definitions of niche (e.g. the fundamental niche concept), so it is perhaps understandable why more neutral terminology is becoming popular in SDM. An examination of the literature reveals a wide range of uncritical use of niche terminology. Our findings in this paper do not necessarily support the position of niche as a universally useful concept.

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Pitch the niche - taking responsibility for the concepts we use in ecology and species distribution modelling
Rampal Etienne

Journal of Biogeography, 2012

In a discussion it is often easier to staunchly reject or offer resolute support for an idea. This third paper on the niche concept aims to develop a balanced argument by exploring general principles for determining an appropriate level for pitching the niche concept that will guide better use and less abuse of niche concepts. To do this we first have to accept that niche concepts are not necessarily essential for ecology. Rather than to improve niche concepts, our aim should then be to pitch the niche in terms of ecology. This aim helps us develop an 'ultimate goal of the niche' by which we can evaluate the concepts we use. For species distribution modelling, there has been a focus on the niche as an equilibrium outcome that perhaps has less relevance for disequilibrium situations (e.g. climate change projections). As is the case for much of ecology, more causal explanations of species' distributions use alternative terminologies and less frequently use the word 'niche'. We suggest that niche concepts that are better aligned with the rest of ecology could arise from taking more responsibility for our own implementations, and by explaining our models with terms other than niche. A general, holistic niche concept promotes this view and promotes practical thinking about what we are modelling and how we interpret those models, which in turn should help inspire and support innovative modelling approaches in species distribution modelling.

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Ecological niche
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A practical objective of ENA in general, and environ analysis in particular, is to trace material and energy flow-storage through the complex network of system interactions. The network environ approach has been a fruitful way of holistically investigating ecological systems. In particular, a series of 'network properties' such as indirect effects ratio, homogenization, and mutualism have been observed using this analysis, which consider the role of each entity embedded in a larger system. Dame RF and Patten BC (1981) Analysis of energy flows in an intertidal oyster reef. Marine Ecology Progress Series 5: 115-124. Fath BD (2007) Community-level relations and network mutualism. Ecological Modelling 208: 56-67. Fath BD and Patten BC (1998) Network synergism: Emergence of positive relations in ecological systems. Ecological Modelling 107: 127-143. Fath BD and Patten BC (1999) Review of the foundations of network environ analysis. Ecosystems 2: 167-179. Fath BD, Jørgensen SE, Patten BC, and Straš kraba M (2004) Ecosystem growth and development. Biosystems 77: 213-228. Gattie DK, Schramski JR, Borrett SR, et al. (2006) Indirect effects and distributed control in ecosystems: Network environ analysis of a seven compartment model of nitrogen flow in the Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, USA -Steady state analysis. Ecological Modelling 194(1-3): 162-177. Halnes G, Fath BD, and Liljenströ m H (2007) The modified niche model: Including a detritus compartment in simple structural food web models. Ecological Modelling 208: 9-16. Higashi M and Patten BC (1989) Dominance of indirect causality in ecosystems.

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Related topics

  • Ecological Niche Modeling
  • Philosophy of Ecology
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