What is a niche and give 3 examples?

Answer 1

A niche is the particular role an animal plays in an ecosystem. For example, two birds may utilize the same tree species for food, but one may eat insects that live in the treetops while the other eats the insects along the tree trunk. In this way, both species are benefiting but not interfering. Each role an animals plays affects other species, and if the trunk-foraging bird disappears, then the whole tree may die due to insect damage. Three specific examples are monarch caterpillars eating only milkweed, killer whales eating gray whales, and woodpeckers eating tree-boring insects. These animals all play a specific role that no other animal fulfills, therefore they have found their own niche and their own role in the ecosystem.