| niche (def. 3). |
| Main Entry: | ecological niche1 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | the entirety of environmental factors that tend to suit and allow an animal or plant species to survive in its habitat, the microhabitat in which a particular population lives and way that it exploits the microhabitat |
| Main Entry: | ecological niche2 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | the role that an animal or plant species plays in the environment, the status of an organism within its environment which affects its survival |