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added ecological niche
=====Ecological Niche=====
=====Ecological Niche=====
Each species has an ecological niche that determines where it can live and a population can have a positive growth rate. The Hutchinsonian definition of the niche is an "n-dimensional hypervolume" that is defined by all the environmental variables in the ecosystem that species live in. While there are many factors influencing the shape of a species' niche, there are usually a few key variables that are most influential. For wide-scale biogeographical investigations, the hypervolume can be reduced to temperature and rainfall as the most key axes, but at smaller scales, light availability, tide, etc. may be important dimensions to consider for the species in question.
As stated, populations can only have positive growth if they lie within their niche. Outside this niche, there is either zero or negative growth. Bringing in metapopulations, this can help to describe source-sink dynamics. While a metapopulation is a conglomerate of disjoint populations, some habitats may be unfavorable to support a species. These are sinks. Other areas may be supportive of the species, and they can disperse to other metapopulations, acting as a source. Conservation efforts should this work on identifying sources versus sinks so that the supportive source habitats can be protected and connections can be made and maintained to other locations.
=====Interspecific Interactions=====
=====Interspecific Interactions=====