What is a squirrel's niche?

In nature, most squirrel species fulfill a niche call "spreading." A "niche" is roughly the specific role that an animal fulfills within its larger community and habitat. The role is usually filled by means of an animal's eating habits. Squirrels, as well as other similar animals, will gather nuts, berries, and seeds and store them for food. However, they often drop or leave behind some of nuts that they gather. Since nuts and berries contain seeds, this results in the seeds of different plants being spread around. This, in turn, "spreads" the populations of various plants around a squirrel's habitat.