Question

Please help me I do not understand. Thank you!

In your own words how can the fundamentals and realized niches of a species change?

Answer 1

Fundamental niche : The niche that an organism occupies in the absence of competing species.

When competitors are present, however, one or both species may be able to coexist by occupying their realized niches, that part of their existence where niche overlap is absent. That is, when they do not compete for the same resources.

Under experimental conditions, one species of barnacle can live on rocks that are exposed to the full range of tides. The full range, from lowest to highest tide levels, is its fundamental niche.

In the natural environment, however, a 2nd species outcompetes the first species, but only at lower tide levels where desiccation is minimal. The first species survives in its realized niche, where the tide is higher.