The niche is a fundamental concept in ecology. However, within environmental science, the link between theory and application can drift with the opportunity for novel developments incorporated less frequently. Theory, analytics, and models are rapidly evolving for the niche. Global change in alpine-arctic regions is also rapidly occurring. Here, the theory, application, and appropriate models for these ecosystems are summarized using a formalized synthesis technique. The quantitative elements from a current systematic review are presented. The Web of Science and Google Scholar were used to compile an appropriate list of primary studies for alpine ecosystems. The main findings from each study, specific species-distribution model reported, and extent that the theory of niche was effectively incorporated were assessed. A global alpine dataset was also tested to highlight the importance of interactions and the niche in the context of global change drivers.
Results/Conclusions
There are nearly 500 studies associated with the niche and alpine ecosystems published to date alone. The specific definition of niche or theory is rarely specified. Biotic interactions are also frequently overlooked in examining the niche for species within these ecosystems, and furthermore, global change is frequently not well grounded in a specified concept of niche. Semantics aside, research gaps include the following opportunities for novel research: adoption of a broader definition of the niche, application of general principles of distribution from ecology, and use of species distribution models with and without positive interactions within these extreme communities. Hence, bidirectional interactions within many ecosystems, but in particular extreme environments, likely mediate the niche. The open, global positive interaction dataset used confirmed that the niche is also an analytically useful mechanism to examine global change dynamics in extreme ecosystems.