[Sigbioinform-l] Naive question

[David Kurz]

At 05:22 PM 7/12/2004 -0400, Bill Bell wrote:

>I hope no-one will mind my posting this here. I am just attempting to 
>satisfy my own curiosity.
>
>What kinds of taxonomies are available that categorise the various niches 
>that biological
>species occupy? For example, there is a South American rodent that 
>occupies a niche similar
>to that occupied by antelope, and the kiwi occupies a niche that is 
>occupied by mammals in
>many habitats outside New Zealand. Species that occupy each of these 
>niches would be
>classified  together in the taxonomy.
>
>Would anyone mind suggesting links that I can follow to read more?
>
>In any case, thank you!
>
>Bill

I'm sorry I can't answer your question directly, but you're talking about 
(I think) an ecological classification system. An introduction to ecology 
would be a good place to start and then you'll see how complicated the 
situation quickly becomes. It's certainly a fascinating endeavor and a 
rich, though relatively young field of study. Dogs and humans would be more 
closely related than humans and gorillas in such a classification, for example.

A huge problem in creating an ecological classification is simply 
describing the habitat or niche. Think about the tremendous variety of 
forests that exist and then divide the forest into its various components, 
such as forest floor or tree canopy. You get the idea.

One interesting development in the university is the renaming of "home 
economics" departments and schools into "human ecology" departments and 
schools. I've heard some grumbling from biologists who don't like sharing 
the term "ecology." But that's another taxonomy!

David