Individual specialization and the trophic niche of aquatic consumers

动物从食用其他生物中获得能量和营养，反过来，它们自己也可能成为其他消费者的食物。对这些摄食关系的研究被称为营养生态学，而生态系统中摄食关系的网络被称为食物网。一个物种在生态系统中的功能角色被称为它的生态位，由它使用的资源（栖息地和食物）来定义。营养生态位是生态位的一部分，它决定了物种吃什么。生态系统中物种营养生态位的位置、大小及其丰度决定了生态系统食物网的结构。这种结构影响着能量和物质的流动，以及最终提供给我们的食物的数量和质量。对营养生态位的研究有助于我们了解食物网的结构，以及生态和进化过程。

Animals obtain their energy and nutrients from eating other organisms, and in turn, may themselves become food for other consumers. The study of these feeding relationships is called trophic ecology, and the network of feeding relationships in an ecosystem is called a food web. A species’ functional role in an ecosystem is called its niche, and is defined by the resources it uses, both habitat and food. The trophic niche is that part of the niche defining what the species eats. Positions and dimensions of trophic niches of species in an ecosystem, as well their abundances, define the ecosystem food web structure. This structure affects energy and material flows, and the quantity and quality of foods ultimately available to us. Research on the trophic niche helps us to understand food web structure, as well as ecological and evolutionary processes.