Final answer:
Two species sharing the same ecological niche can lead to interspecific competition, with one species outcompeting the other, or, in rare cases, collaboration or hybridization. The competitive exclusion principle often governs the outcome, though niche differentiation can sometimes enable coexistence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Two Possible Outcomes When Species Share a Niche:
When two species occupy the same ecological niche, they can either engage in interspecific competition, leading to the local extinction of one species, or rarely, some sort of collaboration or hybridization could occur if they are closely related, leading to a merging into a single species. Competition can occur when both species have overlapping needs for food and nesting space, resulting in a decrease in population of one species while the other remains the same.
The competitive exclusion principle suggests that two species competing for the same resources in the same environment cannot coexist indefinitely; one species will typically outcompete the other. On the other hand, if they do manage to coexist, this is likely due to some level of niche differentiation that arises over time, allowing both species to specialize and reduce direct competition.