Introduction

In this module, we will introduce the concept of the ecological niche of species, including fundamental niches and realized niches. We will also discuss 1) how climate change causes a geographical shift in the climatic niche of a species; 2) what the consequence of such a shift will be in terms of forest adaptation to climate change; and 3) how niche-based models can help to develop forest adaptive strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change. We will introduce the concepts of genecology function, transfer function and response function, which are essential to model the climatic niche of populations within a species. 

Outcomes

By the end of this topic, you should be able to

• Define ecological niches, including fundamental niche and realized niche;
• Describe the impact of climate change on spatial distributions of the climatic niche of a species;
• Select appropriate modeling approach for forest adaptation at species and population levels.
• List the major features of genecology functions, transfer functions and response functions;
• Describe the potential use of these three functions in mitigation of the impact of climate change.