Morfometrija kostura kao oruđe za istraživanje međuvrsnih razlika u iskorištavanju ekološke niše kod kralježnjaka

undergraduate thesis

• Title (english): Skeletal morphometrics as a tool for interspecies differences in niche utilisation in vertebrates
• Author: Đina Nola
• Mentor: Duje Lisičić (mentor)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Biology); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2020, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Biology

Abstract

Koncept ekološke niše razvijan je kroz više godina i ima važnu ulogu u proučavanju međuvrsne kompetencije zbog principa kompetitivnog isključenja koji navodi da dvije vrste s identičnim nišama ne mogu koegzistirati bez ograničenja. Iako je niša vrste teoretski definirana vrlo velikim brojem biotičkih i abiotičkih čimbenika, najbolje je opisuje Hutchinsonov n-dimenzionalni hipervolumen gdje je n je jednak broju ekoloških čimbenika bitnih za preživljavanje i razmnožavanje vrste.
Prirodna selekcija može dovesti do morfoloških razlika kod vrsta u kompeticiji, što se naziva preraspodjela obilježja (eng. character displacement) – kad se dvije vrste više razlikuju dijelu areala gdje se pojavljuju zajedno, nego na onim područjima gdje im se areali ne preklapaju.
Morfologija je grana biologije koja proučava oblik i građu organizama, dok je morfometrija područje morfologije u kojoj se na kvantitativan način opisuju, analiziraju i interpretiraju promjene veličine i oblika morfoloških cjelina. Na primjerima iz nekoliko istraživanja, prikazano je kako kompeticija može imati velik utjecaj na niše vrsta i kako se morfometrija može koristiti za utvrđivanje povezanosti između preraspodjele obilježja i zauzimanja novih niša.

Abstract (english)

The ecological niche concept was developed through many years and it has an important place in the study of interspecific competition because of the competitive exclusion principle which claims that two species with identical niches cannot coexist without constrains. Although the niche of a species is defined by a very large number of biotic and abiotic factors, it is best described by Hutchinson’s n-dimensional hypervolume where is n equal to number of environmental factors important for survival and reproduction of the species.
Natural selection may lead to differences in the morphology of competing species, a situation called character displacement - when two species differ more from each other in geographic areas where they occur together than where their distributions do not overlap.
Morphology is a branch of biology that studies form and structure of organism. Morphometry is a domain of morphology which, in quantitative way, describes, analyses, and interprets morphological units. On examples from a few research papers, it was represented how competition can have big influence on the niches of species and how morphometry can be used to determine the correlation between character displacement and the change of the niche.

• Keywords: morfometrija
• Language: croatian
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:490811
• Study programme: Title: Ecology; Study programme type: university; Study level: undergraduate; Academic / professional title: sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) biologije (sveučilišni/a prvostupnik/prvostupnica (baccalaureus/baccalaurea) biologije)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2020-10-02 09:00:41