Individualised niches in a variable environment

Individualised niches in a variable environment – Consequences for species interactions

Intraspecific trait variation is being increasingly recognized in recent years to be of importance in better explaining ecological dynamics. Also, recently the importance of perceiving the umbrella concept of niche construction through three mechanisms by which an organism alters its niche namely the NC3 mechanisms (niche choice, niche conformance, niche construction) were identified. Such an identification is thought to promote empirical research owing to the increased ease associated with identifying and studying how organisms alter their niche. The project focuses on developing a modelling framework to study the manifestations of intraspecific trait variation and the three processes of the NC3 framework on species interactions like host parasite, consumer resource or competitive interactions.

This project is part of the Collaborativ Research Center SFB-TRR-212