1. The concept of the ecological niche relates a set of environmental variables to the fitness of species, while habitat suitability models (HSMs) relate environmental variables to the likelihood of occurrence of the species. In spite of this relationship, the concepts are weakly linked in the literature, and there is a strong need for better integration. 2. We selectively reviewed the literatu...

Modern coexistence theory and contemporary niche theory represent parallel frameworks for understanding the niche’s role in species coexistence. Despite increasing prominence and shared goals, their compatibility and complementarity have received little attention. This paucity of overlap not only presents an obstacle to newcomers to the field, but it also precludes further conceptual advances a...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the current distribution of suitable niches for the invasive orchid species, Epipactis helleborine, and to estimate the possibility of its further expansion. Moreover, niche modeling tools were used to explain its rapid expansion in North America and to test the niche conservatism of the species. The maximum entropy method was used to create models o...

The stem cell niche, formed by surrounding stromal cells, provides extrinsic signals that maintain stem cell self-renewal. However, it remains unclear how these extrinsic signals are regulated. In the Drosophila female germline stem cell (GSC) niche, Decapentaplegic (DPP) is an important niche factor for GSC self-renewal. The exact source of the DPP and how its transcription is regulated in thi...

Bone marrow (BM) cells depend on their niche for growth and survival. However, the genes modulated by niche stimuli have not been discriminated yet. For this purpose, we investigated BM aspirations from patients with various hematological malignancies. Each aspirate was fractionated, and the various samples were fixed at different time points and analyzed by microarray. Identification of niche-...

Estimating actual and potential areas of distribution of species via ecological niche modeling has become a very active field of research, yet important conceptual issues in this field remain confused. We argue that conceptual clarity is enhanced by adopting restricted definitions of "niche" that enable operational definitions of basic concepts like fundamental, potential, and realized niches a...

Stem cell research has been focused on niche signaling and epigenetic programming of stem cells. However, epigenetic programming of niche cells remains unexplored. We showed previously that Piwi plays a crucial role in Piwi-interacting RNA-mediated epigenetic regulation and functions in the niche cells to maintain germline stem cells (GSCs) in the Drosophila ovary. To investigate the epigenetic...

Cancer establishes a microenvironment called the pre-metastatic niche in distant organs where disseminated cancer cells can efficiently metastasize. Pre-metastatic niche formation requires various genetic factors. Previous studies suggest that inhibiting a single niche-factor is insufficient to completely block pre-metastatic niche formation especially in human patients. Here we show that the a...

The tapestry of the history of life reveals striking examples of both niche conservatism, and rapid niche evolution, where "niche" is used in the Grinnellian sense as that set of conditions, resources, etc. which permit populations of a species to persist in a locality without recurrent immigration. Recent years have seen the development of a rich body of theoretical studies aimed at understand...

T his book, the latest in the excellent Monographs in Population Biology series from Princeton University Press, is a work of advocacy in which the authors argue that evolutionary theory is incomplete and that, in consequence, we are failing fully to understand phenomena as disparate as ecosystem development and the interplay of genes and culture in shaping human evolution. What we are missing,...