Can two different species occupy exactly the same niche? What happens?

Answer 1

Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "environmental niche competition" to get this source:

(Broken Link Removed)

Consider an extreme case: Can 2 populations occupying the same resource niche coexist in the same environment?

If 2 populations occupy same resource niche, then by definition they utilize all the same resources, and in the same manner

Common sense tells us there are 3 possible outcomes to this situation:

1) share resources more or less equally (neither population changes niche)

2) one or both populations alters niche to reduce overlap (niche partitioning)

3) one population loses out completely (competitive exclusion)

In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search. Also see http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

Answer 2

gang