The fundamental niche of a species is the full range of environmental conditions and resources a species can potentially occupy in the absence of limitations. The realized niche is the actual, smaller subset of the fundamental niche that the species occupies due to biotic limitations. The distribution of populations of Species 1 and Species 2 over various levels towards the shore of an aquatic habitat is shown in the

Step-by-step solution

Based on the provided figure, we can determine the fundamental and realized niches for both species: Species 1: Fundamental niche spans Zone M and Zone N. Realized niche is restricted to Zone M. Species 2: Fundamental niche spans Zone N and Zone O. Realized niche is restricted to Zone N. Let us evaluate the given statements: (i) Competition occurs where the fundamental niches of the two species overlap. The overlap is exclusively in Zone N, not in Zone M. Therefore, statement (i) is incorrect. (ii) In the overlappi