Question

On an adventure to a faraway place, you discover two previously unknown species of woozle. You notice that purple woozles live on the ground and orange woozles live high up in the trees. You gather up all of the purple woozles (they're easier to catch) and take them to a zoo. The next year, when you return to gather up the orange woozles, you find that they now live on the ground as well as in the trees. Based on what you know about niches and competition, which of the following is TRUE?
a. Competition between purple and orange woozles might have been responsible for where you found them on the island.
b. The fundamental niches of orange woozles does not include ground habitat.
c. On the ground, purple woozles are probably poorer competitors than orange woozles.

Answer 1

Answer:

a. Competition between purple and orange woozles might have been responsible for where you found them on the island.

Explanation:

The competitive exclusion principle establishes that two or more species that share the same niche requirements and are in biological competition for the same resources won´t be able to coexist indefinitely in the same space if the other ecological factors are constant. When the superior competitor occupies the inferior competitor´s fundamental niche, the first species has advantages over the second species and monopolizes all the resources. From that moment, the inferior species is displaced and must adapt to use other resources changing its behavior, or must migrate to another area where it can get access to its needs or get extinct.

The fundamental niche of the orange woozles includes the ground and the top of the trees. But they were probably displaced by the purple woozles that was the superior competitor and occupied part of the fundamental niche of the orange woozles.