On the Measurement of Niche Breadth and Overlap

@article{citeulike:2908041, abstract = {Measures of niche breadth and overlap that depend on the distribution of individual among resource states (ecological categories) should be independent of the relative abundance of the species and of the number of resource states considered. Such measures should also take into account the degree of distinctness of the resource states from the point of view of the organisms concerned. An ecoassay of the distinctness of resource states may well be easier and more meaningful than measurements of physical and chemical factors. We propose that the species composition of communities utilizing different resource states may be used to develop weighting factors with which each state may be weighted in proportion to its degree of distinctness. The weighting factors are used in the development of indices of niche breadth and overlap that correct for variation in the range and distinctness of resource states and that suffer less from human subjectivity than do the measures used to date. The use of such indices and the relationship of niche overlap to competition are discussed.}, author = {Colwell, Robert K. and Futuyma, Douglas J. }, citeulike-article-id = {2908041}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1934144}, journal = {Ecology}, keywords = {ecology, methods, niche}, number = {4}, pages = {567--576}, posted-at = {2008-06-19 17:23:41}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Ecological Society of America}, title = {On the Measurement of Niche Breadth and Overlap}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1934144}, volume = {52}, year = {1971} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2908041 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2908041 TI - On the Measurement of Niche Breadth and Overlap JF - Ecology VL - 52 IS - 4 SP - 567 EP - 576 PB - Ecological Society of America N2 - Measures of niche breadth and overlap that depend on the distribution of individual among resource states (ecological categories) should be independent of the relative abundance of the species and of the number of resource states considered. Such measures should also take into account the degree of distinctness of the resource states from the point of view of the organisms concerned. An ecoassay of the distinctness of resource states may well be easier and more meaningful than measurements of physical and chemical factors. We propose that the species composition of communities utilizing different resource states may be used to develop weighting factors with which each state may be weighted in proportion to its degree of distinctness. The weighting factors are used in the development of indices of niche breadth and overlap that correct for variation in the range and distinctness of resource states and that suffer less from human subjectivity than do the measures used to date. The use of such indices and the relationship of niche overlap to competition are discussed. KW - ecology KW - methods KW - niche AU - Colwell, Robert AU - Futuyma, Douglas PY - 1971/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1934144 ER -