ABSTRACT
The concept of niche was first proposed by the ecologist Grinnell, whose originally meaning was “the final unit just occupied by one species of a subspecies.” This definition emphasized the significance of the spatial distribution of species, highlighting the spatiality of niche (Luo et al. 2013). From the perspective of the community trophic relations between species, animal ecologist Charles Elton pointed out that niche was “the status and role of species in biomes”, and this definition highlighted the functionality of niche. Hutchinson proposed that niche is “the sum of all relations of organisms and its biotic and abiotic environment”, and he thought the actual niche of a species in the biomes will be smaller and smaller with the increase of competitive species (Li et al. 2010). To a certain extent, this definition explained why the living environment of species in community succession would become increasingly specialized (Zhao et al. 2010). Due to the different angles and starting points of ecologists, the definition of niche also had some differences. In this paper, it considers that niche refers to the sum of dependence on the resources and the adaptability of a biological unit (individual, population or species) in biomes, and also includes the functional relationships between its specific location and time and other relevant biological units. The niche of species not only depends on the region where it lives, but also is influenced and limited by its way of life and other biological units.As an objective existence in natural ecosystem, niche reflects that the subject and environment always exist information transformation conditions between matters, emerge and information, operating conditions of body living system, andmutual coordination operating conditions between the subject and environment (Li et al. 2012). We can say that, for
all life phenomenons, niche phenomenon is a general principle with universality.
