Morphological Variation and Width of Ecological Niche
1965/09/01 by Leigh Van Valen · 1,384 citations
Environmental Science · #Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies #Biology #Ecological niche #Ecology #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Geography #Habitat #Mainland #Niche #Niche segregation #Species Distribution and Climate Change #Variation (astronomy)
paper · doi:10.1086/282379
published in The American Naturalist 99(908), 377-390 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 1965/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Abstract
In six bird species convenient for study, niches are known to be broader on some islands than on the mainland. In every case there is also greater variation in a bill measurement on the islands, except for one species in which the niche on the Canary Islands is narrower than that on the mainland. The adjusted variances average about twice as great in the broader niche. These and other results suggest that continuous variation within local populations is often adaptive in itself and is not part of the genetic or phenotypic load.
Cited by
- The Ecology of Individuals: Incidence and Implications of Individual Specialization
- Comparative support for the niche variation hypothesis that more generalized populations also are more heterogeneous
- Bridging the gap between individual specialization and species persistence in mutualistic communities
- Seasonal isotopic niche of a rodent: High between‐individual variation but no changes in individual niche width during the rich‐resource period
- Temporal changes in the dietary niche of sympatric seals provides insight into the role of competition in population declines
- Genetic Diversity Within and Among Sinai Populations of Three Ballota Species (Lamiaceae)
- Pollinator specialization: from the individual to the community
- Ecology and genetics of interspecific hybridization in the swallowtails, Papilio hospiton Géné and P. machaon L., in Corsica (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
- Downscaling mutualistic networks from species to individuals reveals consistent interaction niches and roles within plant populations
- Reconstructing the dietary ecology of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L., 1758) through the Last Cold Stage in Europe
- Niche Breadth: Causes and Consequences for Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
- Trophic disruption by an invasive species linked to altered energy fluxes
- The Evolution of Morphological Diversity
- Urbanisation Facilitates Intrapopulation Dietary Niche Diversity in a Generalist Carnivore
- Interactions between a planktivorous fish and planktonic microcrustaceans mediated by the biomass of aquatic macrophytes
- Avian Island Radiations Shed Light on the Dynamics of Adaptive and Nonadaptive Radiation
- What do caribou eat? A review of the literature on caribou diet
- The Ecology of Mutualism
- Ecosystem, spatial and trophic dimensions of niche partitioning among freshwater fish predators
- Urbanization Shapes Dietary Composition and Snout Morphology of Salamanders
- Species traits modulate ecological release in island red devil spiders (Araneae: Dysderidae)
- Factors affecting intraspecific diet variation of ducklings: Niche partitioning in a heterogeneous landscape?
- What determines trophic niche breadth? A global analysis of freshwater fishes using isospaces
- Assessment of genetic diversity among seed transfer zones for multiple grassland plant species across Germany
- Haliotis tuberculata, a generalist marine herbivore that prefers a mixed diet, but with consistent individual foraging activity
- THE EVOLUTION OF ECOLOGICAL SPECIALIZATION
- Biological Aspects of Endemism in Higher Plants
- Species‐specific drivers explain fish feeding and individual niche variation
- Large-scale surveys of woodrats ( Neotoma spp.) reveal constraints on diet breadth in herbivorous mammals
- Trophic niche variation driven by water level fluctuations facilitates the co‐occurrence of invasive tilapia species in a subtropical reservoir in China
- Damming of streams due to the construction of a highway in the Amazon rainforest favors individual trophic specialization in the fish (Bryconops giacopinii)
- Recent range shifts of moths, butterflies, and birds are driven by the breadth of their climatic niche
- Ecological Release and Venom Evolution of a Predatory Marine Snail at Easter Island
- Habitat preferences of an endangered insect species, Cepero's ground‐hopper ( Tetrix ceperoi )
- Interindividual Variation in Prey Selection by the Snail Nucella (= Thais) Emarginata
- Explosive Pleistocene diversification and hemispheric expansion of a “great speciator”
- Snake venomics: From the inventory of toxins to biology
- Shape-shifting: changing animal morphologies as a response to climatic warming
- Coexistence of jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor) in a mosaic landscape in the Venezuelan llanos
- Global long-term stability of individual dietary specialization in herbivorous mammals
- Hominin evolution and diversity: a comparison of earlier-Middle and later-Middle Pleistocene hominin fossil variation in China
- Quantifying trophic interactions and niche sizes of juvenile fishes in an invaded riverine cyprinid fish community
- Patterns of variation in dietary composition among four populations of Alpine salamanders (Salamandra atra prenjensis)
- A Functional Analysis of Morphological Variation and Differential Niche Utilization in Basilisk Lizards
- Adaptive divergence in the Superb Fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus): a mainland versus island comparison of morphology and foraging behaviour
- The Zoogeography of Mammalian Basal Metabolic Rate
- Evolutionary significance of phenotypic accommodation in novel environments: an empirical test of the Baldwin effect
- Shape Divergence Associated with Size Convergence in Sympatric East African Jackals
- SEXUAL DIMORPHISM AND ADAPTIVE SPECIATION: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME ECOLOGICAL COIN
- The explanatory power of energetic fitness models across living amniotes and extinct non-avian dinosaurs
- Intraspecific competition drives increased resource use diversity within a natural population. [europepmc]
- Niche expansion leads to small-scale adaptive divergence along an elevation gradient in a medium-sized passerine bird. [europepmc]
- Evolutionary significance of phenotypic accommodation in novel environments: an empirical test of the Baldwin effect. [europepmc]
- Individual specialists in a generalist population: results from a long-term stable isotope series. [europepmc]
- Stable isotope series from elephant ivory reveal lifetime histories of a true dietary generalist. [europepmc]
- Widespread disruptive selection in the wild is associated with intense resource competition. [europepmc]
- Jack-of-all-trades: phenotypic plasticity facilitates the invasion of an alien slug species. [europepmc]
- Specialist versus generalist life histories and nucleotide diversity in Caenorhabditis nematodes. [europepmc]
- Cultural transmission of tool use by Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) provides access to a novel foraging niche. [europepmc]
- Intraspecific genetic variation and species coexistence in plant communities. [europepmc]
- Monogenean anchor morphometry: systematic value, phylogenetic signal, and evolution. [europepmc]
- Dietary breadth is positively correlated with venom complexity in cone snails. [europepmc]
- Shape, colour plasticity, and habitat use indicate morph-specific camouflage strategies in a marine shrimp. [europepmc]
- Predictable evolution towards larger brains in birds colonizing oceanic islands. [europepmc]
- Principles of niche expansion. [europepmc]
- Competition and resource breadth shape niche variation and overlap in multiple trophic dimensions. [europepmc]
- Ecological opportunity shapes a large Arctic charr species radiation. [europepmc]
- My niche: individual spatial niche specialization affects within- and between-species interactions. [europepmc]
- Effects of urbanization on resource use and individual specialization in coyotes (Canis latrans) in southern California. [europepmc]
- DNA metabarcoding and spatial modelling link diet diversification with distribution homogeneity in European bats. [europepmc]
- Individual environmental niches in mobile organisms. [europepmc]
- On the macroecological significance of eco-evolutionary dynamics: the range shift-niche breadth hypothesis. [europepmc]
- Fish Skin Microbiomes Are Highly Variable Among Individuals and Populations but Not Within Individuals. [europepmc]
- The evolution of trait variance creates a tension between species diversity and functional diversity. [europepmc]
- Recent range shifts of moths, butterflies, and birds are driven by the breadth of their climatic niche. [europepmc]
Related