The usefulness of ecological niche concepts in understanding plant communities

Plant communities have been attracting many scientists due to their complexity and unclear underlying mechanisms that support it. How large numbers of competing plant species manage to coexist, for instance, is one of the major unresolved question in plant community ecology. Ecological niche concep will be presented in this paper. Recent studies, althought few in number and incomplete in many ways, do suggest that plants segregate along various environmental niche axes. Althought it is unlikely that niche separation along enviromental axes is the only mechanism of coexitence in any large community, the evidency now suggest that ecological niche concept plays a more significant role than has been previously appreciated. Buletin Kebun Raya Vol. 15 No.1. Hal. 30-35 ISSN 0125-961X