competive exclusion princple
A given habitat may contain many different species, but each species must have a different niche. Two different species cannot occupy the same niche in the same place for very long. This is known as the competitive exclusion principle . If two species were to occupy the same niche, what do you think would happen? They would compete with one another for the same food and other resources in the environment. Eventually, one species would be likely to outcompete and replace the other.