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Ecological Relations Among Space, Time, and Thermal Niche Axes
Author(s) -
Tracy C. Richard,
Christian Keith A.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1937684
Subject(s) - ecology , niche , ecological niche , organism , resource (disambiguation) , habitat , range (aeronautics) , population , exploit , competition (biology) , evolutionary ecology , biology , environmental science , computer science , engineering , computer network , paleontology , host (biology) , demography , computer security , sociology , aerospace engineering
While the physical environment is often viewed as that with which an organism must contend, and the biotic environment as including resources that may be exploited, interactions occurring between the physical and biotic portions of animal niches suggest that animals also exploit their physical environments. The space and time required for physiological optimal interactions with the environment represent units with which the thermal environment can be quantified as an ecological resource. Characteristics of the thermal environment that an animal experiences within its home range have been incorporated into measures to quantify the quality of the home range with respect to temperature relations, to evaluate the importance of thermal transients to an animal, and to assess temporal aspects of habitat exploitation. Since the thermal environment is physiologically important to animals, and since there can be competition for space and time, this approach provides a bridge between physiological and population/evolutionary ecology.