Ecological Niche Modelling

Subject : Environment

Context: Ecological niche modelling can be used to examine economic feasibilities within the context of changing ecological scenarios.

Concept :

Ecological niche models (ENMs) aim to recreate the relationships between species and the environments where they occur and allow us to identify unexplored areas in geography where these species might be present.
Ecological niche modelling is a predictive tool for identifying new possibilities — new inhabitants for an existing habitat, or new geographical locations where a desirable plant may grow well.
The modelling involves the use of computer algorithms like Maximum Entropy Algorithm (Max Ent) to compare data about the environment and to make forecasts about what would be ideal for a given ecological niche.
These models have been successfully used in terrestrial organisms but their application in aquatic organisms is still scarce.

Ecological Niche

An ecological niche refers to the interrelationship of a species with all the biotic and abiotic factors affecting it.
It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for example, by growing when resources are abundant, and when predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce) and how it in turn alters those same factors (for example, limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey)
A Niche is unique for a species, which means no two species have exact identical niches.
If we should have to conserve species in its native habitat, we should have knowledge about the niche requirements of the species and should ensure that all requirements of its niche are fulfilled