Niches

A niche is a role a species can fill in the environment. Two species can't fill the same niche in the same patch, if they compete for the same niche, one of them has to go extinct. But there is an exception to this, there are too many plankton species in the seas that fill the same niche, which is known as the paradox of the plankton.

Niches in Thrive: There will not be hard coded niches in Thrive, but auto-evo will simulate the population dynamics as they would have happened in real life, which would cause distinct niches to appear.