MODELING ESSAY ANSWERS

IS THERE A FUNDAMENTAL NICHE WE HUMANS OCCUPY?  DESCRIBE THE BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC FACTORS THAT POPULATIONS OF HUMANS REQUIRE IN ORDER TO LIVE AND REPRODUCE.  IF YOU DO NOT THINK SO, EXPLAIN WHY?

SOME STUDENT ANSWERS:

No I do not think there is a fundamental niche that humans occupy because we are very diverse.  We eat a lot of different things and live in many different places.  We also do many different things.  Humans are to adaptive and diverse to occupy a niche.

No, humans don’t occupy a fundamental niche.  I say this because we are omnivores and eat almost anything.  This means we can eat everything another animal eats and technically be in that animal’s niche.

I don’t think so because we have to work.  And there is disease and bad weather so it is not perfect.

We live in a fundamental niche because we have plenty of food, just go to the grocery store, and we have nice houses and clothes.  We got to school and learn and don’t worry about very much.

ANOTHER STUDENT ANSWER:

There is a fundamental niche that humans occupy.  It would be necessary for humans to have shelter with a source of heat, food, something to cook raw meats, and other people.  It is necessary to have shelter and heat to protect ourselves from the natural elements.  Other humans would be necessary for social interaction and reproduction.

SOME BETTER ANSWER:

There are two types of niches. A fundamental niche is an ideal niche, that is one were the organism has everything it needs without any problems and a realized niche, which is more like real life where organism have to compete or struggle for survival. Do humans occupy a fundamental niche? Not really.  People need to work, people get sick, there are wars, the weather changes and there are hurricanes and snowstorms, and even natural disasters such as earthquakes and tidal waves. You have to go to school and compete with other students and if you want to get a better paying job you have to graduate from college.  Some people are born better off than others, maybe just rich people like Donald Trump live in a fundamental niche and the others live in a realized niche.  So I would say most of us do not live in a fundamental niche but in a realized niche.

EVEN BETTER ANSWER:

Populations of humans require both abiotic and biotic factors in order to survive. In a fundamental niche or ideal niche all these factors would be readily available for human use without any struggle or competition between organisms.  Abiotic factors such as building materials would be cheap or free, the weather would always be perfect, no floods, no hurricanes, or snowstorms, there would be no disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis where people would be injured and die. People wouldn’t have to work to buy such things as clothes or cars or pay taxes. No one would go hungry in the world as biotic factors such as food would be cheap and available to everyone.  Getting sick or injured would not be a factor in survival.  Unfortunately, I don’t believe humans live in a fundamental niche but in a realized niche. One where it is necessary to compete or struggle for resources such as food, shelter and clothing.  We have to pay for medicines, for transportation, and education. We compete for jobs to earn money to buy these commodities.  We compete to go to good schools, to get ahead in life.  We struggle against nature always trying to cure diseases or to be prepared against even getting the flu.  People loose their jobs.  We ruin nature and have to fix it up.  We fight wars where people die.  So no, I do not believe humans live in a fundamental niche where everything is easy and resources are shared equally and there is no competition, struggle, danger, injury, or loss.

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