Individual specialization and the trophic niche of aquatic consumers

动物从吃其他有机体中获得能量和营养，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称为营养生态学，而生态系统中的摄食关系网络称为食物网。一个物种在生态系统中的功能角色被称为它的生态位，并由它所使用的资源来定义，包括栖息地和食物。营养生态位是定义物种吃什么的生态位的一部分。生态系统中物种营养生态位的位置和大小，以及它们的丰富度，决定了生态系统的食物网络结构。这种结构影响能量和物质流动，以及我们最终可获得的食物的数量和质量。对营养生态位的研究有助于我们理解食物网络的结构，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.