Preserving the planet
Goal: To learn more about species types (e.g., generalist, specialist), their roles and interactions
What to do: Answer the questions below
Read about the ecological niche of an eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis):
they live in trees, specifically deciduous trees – they find food, shelter, and raise their young in
trees, though they often visit the ground to find food as well;
they are mammals, which means they have fur and feed their babies milk. This has lots of
consequences, including that squirrels can be active year-round, rather than just in warm
temperatures like reptiles or amphibians;
squirrels are rodents, and like all their rodent cousins, they have chiseling front teeth, which
makes them good at getting into seeds found in the forest;
they are mostly herbivorous (eat plant material), but they are opportunists, so their food includes
many kinds of seeds and nuts (including acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, and beechnuts), fruits
(including apples, grapes, holly berries), fungi, insects, baby birds, eggs, and even some
amphibians (e.g. frogs and salamanders);
they don’t always eat their food right away – they often hide (or “cache”) their food to dig up
later, in winter, when food is scarce;
because they don’t always return to the food they hide, they help many forest plants to disperse
their seeds, basically planting their seeds for them!
they are food for many forest predators, including birds of prey (hawks and owls), foxes,
raccoons, and snakes.
Question 1: Based on ecological niche description of the eastern gray squirrel, list 5 typical
characteristics that might categorize an organism’s niche.
Question 2: Based on figure to the right,
distinguish between resource use of
generalist and a specialist species.
1
TABLE 1 Niches of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the gray fox (Urocyon cineoargenteus)
Characteristic Red Fox Gray Fox
Length 827-1097 mm 800-1125 mm
Weight 3-7 kg 3.6-6.8 kg
voles, rabbits, hares, small mammals, birds, small mammals, fruit,
Diet
fruit, invertebrates invertebrates
edges, cropland, farmland, brush, pastureland,
Habitat deciduous forests
mixed hardwood, suburban, NOT dense forests
Active at what
dusk, dawn, night, sometimes day night and twilight
time of day?
e.g. most widely distributed wild carnivores in
Fun Fact(s) climb trees!
the world
Question 3: Based on Table 1 above, write down how the niches of red and gray foxes are similar
and how they are different.
Question 4: Look at the diet and habitat of the red and gray fox and circle the term below that best fits each
species for their diet and the term that best fits their habitat preferences.
Red Fox Gray Fox
Diet: Generalist or Specialist? Generalist or Specialist?
Habitat: Generalist or Specialist? Generalist or Specialist?
Question 5: Categorize the species below into generalists (G) or specialists (S). Justify your answer.
Organism G or S Justification
Panda bear
Cockroach
Koala bear
Racoon
Tiger salamander
Sword-billed
hummingbird
Rat
Northern Spotted
Owl
Question 6: In case of a major environmental disturbance, what species (generalist or specialist)
would have better chances of survival? Justify your point of view.
2 Adapted from eMammals
