What does an ecological niche represent?

An ecological niche represents the role and position a species has in its environment. This concept encompasses how a species interacts with both biotic factors, such as other organisms, and abiotic factors, such as climate and soil type. The niche includes all the ways a species meets its needs for survival, reproduction, and maintaining its population.

This includes what it eats, how it obtains its food, its habitat preferences, its relationships with other species (such as predator or prey), and its role in energy flow and nutrient cycling within its ecosystem. Understanding a species' niche helps in predicting how it might respond to changes in the environment, such as climate change or habitat destruction.

In contrast, the geographical area where a species is found mainly refers to its distribution without capturing the interactions and roles that define the ecological niche. The genetic makeup of a species relates to its evolutionary history and cannot fully encapsulate the ecological interactions that define niche. Physical characteristics may influence a species' interactions in its niche, but they do not define the niche itself, which is more about the functional role in the ecosystem.