Maybe not directly relevant to the discussion, but I wonder about the = assumption that a more diverse community having more niches than a less = diverse one. It's also conceivable that it might just have more niche = overlap. In other words, the presumed correlation between diversity and = number of niches assumes little or no niche overlap, but there's at least = some evidence that niches do overlap within a community. This connects to = the equilibrium/disequilibrium discussion of community structure & = dynamics. I confess a bias toward looking at things as continua rather than as = discrete packets. So I'd rather think about niche space (a la Hutchinson, = plus) and how you pack species in there. You could pack a lot in if they = all had small, non-overlapping niches, or if they all had big, overlapping = niches, or any combination or intermediate. ...just random thoughts... Charles =20 =20 Charles W. Welden Department of Biology Acting Chair, Environmental Studies Southern Oregon University [EMAIL PROTECTED] (541) 552-6868 (voice) (541) 552-6415 (fax)
>>> "Warren W. Aney" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 11/21/2007 11:23 AM >>> Decades ago there was discussion (and action) regarding the concept of "unoccupied niches" ... This also seems to tie to Kelly's comments about biodiversity -- a very diverse ecosystem would have many more niches than a simpler ecosystem.
