Niche Partitioning
Duration
00:04:13Description
This video introduces the concept of niche partitioning with examples drawn from the African savanna.
Ecologist Robert Pringle explains the main ways in which large mammalian herbivores that coexist in the African savanna — including giraffes, zebras, and wildebeest — partition their habitat to reduce competition. He provides examples of herbivores partitioning their habitat by space (spatial niche partitioning) and diet (dietary niche partitioning), the latter of which may involve dividing food resources based on time or height.
This clip is from a 2015 Holiday Lecture Series, Patterns and Processes in Ecology.
Key Terms
biodiversity, browser, competition, facilitation, grazer, grazing succession, Serengeti, species coexistence
Primary Literature
Kartzinel, Tyler R., Patricia A. Chen, Tyler C. Coverdale, David L. Erickson, W. John Kress, Maria L. Kuzmina, Daniel I. Rubenstein, et al. “DNA metabarcoding illuminates dietary niche partitioning by African large herbivores.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 26 (2015): 8019–8024. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1503283112.
Terms of Use
Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.