the community, each species occupies a niche. A species' niche determines how it interacts with the environment around it and its role within the community. By having different niches species are able to coexist. This is known as niche partitioning. For example, the time of day a species hunts or the prey it hunts.

Niche partitioning reduces competition between species such that species are able to coexist because they suppress their own growth more than they limit the growth of other species