Niche width

Paul S. Giller

Two separate components combine to form the niche width of a species […]. The within-phenotype component (WPC) describes the level of variation in resource use by individuals and the between-phenotype component (BPC) describes variation amongst individuals of the species population. Total niche width (B) is given by WPC + BPC. If B is 100% BPC, the species will be polymorphic with specialists, whereas if B is 100% WPC, the species will be monomorphic with generalists. Obviously real populations will lie somewhere in between […].

Fonte: Giller, P. S. 1984. Community structure and the niche. Londres, Chapman.