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What Is A Habitat?
A habitat is a place where an organism lives, either permanently or temporarily.
It provides everything an organism requires for survival and ultimately reproduction.
An animal's living place is called its habitat.
Different plants and animals require different living conditions to thrive, e.g. goldfish need freshwater while whales, sea water.
Animals and plants are adapted to the conditions of the habitats in which they live. Most animals are only adapted to live in one or two habitats. A walrus could not live in a desert. A rattlesnake could not live for very long in the arctic.
What Do All Living Things Need To Survive?
All living things need food, water, air, shelter (cover) and space to survive.
Shelter - Protection from predators or weather.
Air - Oxygen either from the air or dissolved in water is required for respiration.
Water - All living things require liquid water.
Food - All living things need food (for energy) to grow and reproduce. Some organisms (such as plants) make their own food from air, water, and sunlight. Other organisms must eat plants or other living things to get their energy.
Space - Animals require different amounts of space to find food, water, shelter and a mate. Some animals defend a large territory or roam over a large range. Other animals only need a small amount of space and can tolerate close neighbours.
Types Of Habitat
There are lots of different types of habitat, for example:
Forests - a type of habitat that covers a large area where many trees, plants, and animals live.
Forest plants provide shade and protection for many different types of animals.
Deciduous forests:
These are forests in cool, rainy areas. They can be found in the eastern half of North America and the middle of Europe. The word "deciduous" (say dee-sid-u-ous) means exactly what the leaves on these trees do. They change colour in autumn, fall off in the winter and grow back again in the spring. This adaptation helps trees in the forest survive winter.
Why do deciduous trees lose their leaves?
In the winter, less water is available for trees to take in through their roots; this is because much of the water in the ground is frozen. Since trees lose water through their leaves, losing leaves is a way for a tree to conserve water.
What does trees losing leaves mean to animals?
It means that animals will have less cover to hide themselves from predators.
How do animals survive in this habitat?
Animals living in this habitat must adjust to cold winters and hot summers by hibernating, migrating, or keeping active all winter.
The trees provide shelter for them. Animals use the trees for food and as a water source. Most of the animals are camouflaged to look like the ground.
Coniferous Forests (Taiga):
This habitat can be found in Canada, Europe and also Asia.
The northern coniferous forests are called taiga (this is Russian for swamp forest) or boreal (say bo-re-al) forests.
The taiga is the largest type of habitat in the world. Winters are very cold and summers are warm. This is because the taiga is near the top of the world. Lots of conifers (evergreen trees with needles) grow here.
How do animals survive in this habitat?
The taiga has fewer animal species than the tropical or temperate deciduous forests. Many of the animals do not live in the taiga the entire year. Snow, cold, and a scarcity of food make life very difficult, especially in the winter.
Some taiga animals and birds migrate south, in the winter, where it is warmer, others go into hibernation, while others simply cope with the environment. Only a few amphibians and reptiles can survive the cold winter.
How have trees adapted to survive the many fires?
The taiga is prone to wildfires. Many trees have adapted to this by growing thick bark, which can protect a tree from a mild fire.
Rain Forests:
Tropical rain forests occur in regions near the equator. The climate is always warm (between 20° and 25° C) with plenty of rainfall (at least 190 cm/year). While some animals live on the ground, most rain forest animals live in the trees. Many of these animals spend their entire life in the forest canopy. Insects are so abundant in tropical rain forests that the majority have not yet been identified.
Desert Habitat - Desert covers more than one-third of the world's land, they are either very hot and dry or very cold. Deserts are characterized by dry conditions (usually less than 10 inches per year; 25 cm of rain) and a wide temperature range. The dry air leads to wide daily temperature fluctuations from freezing at night to over 120 degrees during the day.
A Desert is defined as a region that has less than 250 mm (or 10 inches) of annual rainfall or precipitation.
Hot and Dry Deserts:
Most Hot and Dry Deserts are near the
Tropic of Cancer or the
Tropic of Capricorn.
Hot and Dry Deserts temperature ranges from 20 to 25° C.
Cold Desserts:
Cold Deserts are near the Arctic. A cold desert is a desert that has snow in the winter. Cold Desert temperatures in winter range from -2 to 4° C and in the summer from 21 to 26° C a year.
Animals:
Desert animals have many adaptations well to help them survive in their climate. Many are nocturnal (meaning they are active during the cool night rather than the hot daylight hours).
Some examples of these animals are Borrowers, Mourning Wheatears, and Horned Vipers. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles, and birds.
Cold Deserts have animals like Antelope, Ground Squirrels, Jack Rabbits, and Kangaroo Rats.
The Water Habitat (freshwater and marine)
Freshwater Habitats:
Click the link below to explore a pond!
Click on the link below to learn even more about ponds and pond life!
Marine Habitats:
There are several types of marine habitats, for example the sea, a salt marsh, a marine coast and a swamp.
Can you name some examples of animals that live under the sea? Make a list!!
The Grassland Habitat -
What are Grasslands? They are big open spaces of grass.
Where are Grasslands found? They are found on either side of two desert belts that circle the earth in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
How much of the earth is grassland? About one quarter of the earth's land is in the grasslands.
- What are the two different types of Grassland?
Tropical grasslands – these are the closest to the equator and are hot all year.- Temperate grasslands are farther away from the equator -- such as the U.S. prairies.
They have both hot summers and harsh winters.
What animals live in Grasslands?
Grasslands lack the trees and heavy bush to hide many creatures. Because of the open landscape and the widely spaced trees, grasslands are home to large herds of grazing mammals such as zebras and bison.
Tundra (Artic) Habitat - Where is the Tundra Habitat? The tundra habitat is at the top of the world near the North Pole.
How much of the earth is Tundra? About one fifth of the earth's land is Tundra
What is the ground like?
The ground is permanently frozen 10 inches to 3 feet (25 to 100 cm) down. Because of this trees cannot grow there.
How do plants grow on the solid ground?
The bare and sometimes rocky ground can only support low growing plants like mosses, heaths, and lichen. During the brief summers the top section of the soil may thaw out allowing plants and microorganisms to grow and reproduce. However, these plants and microorganisms become dormant during the cold winter months.
Is there another type of Tundra other than artic tundra?
Yes, it is called alpine tundra and is found on the tops of tall, cold mountains.
How do animals survive in this habitat?
Animals are adapted to handle cold winters and to breed and raise their young quickly in the very short and cool summers.
What living things are found in the Tundra?
Herbivorous mammals such as lemmings, voles, caribou, arctic hares and
squirrels.
Carnivorous mammals such as arctic foxes, wolves, and polar bears.
Migratory birds such as ravens, snow buntings, falcons, loons, ravens, sandpipers, terns, snow birds, and various species of gulls.
Insects such as mosquitoes, flies, moths, grasshoppers, blackflies and arctic bumble bees.
Fish such as cod, flatfish, salmon, and trout.
Camouflage:
Camouflage is very important for animal survival. Animals and people hide things for various reasons. Animals for example hide their young to protect them from predators.
Here are some examples of animals that use colour to blend in with their habitat so that they're almost invisible.
Chameleons, hares, tree frogs, flounder fish, grasshoppers, and lizards.
A stick insect is an animal that uses a combination of colour, shape and behavior to help it appear like something in its habitat.
Zebras and tigers are animals which have special markings that help to disguise their shapes. Don’t forget humans have their own habitat!! We need shelter, food, water, air and space just like most animals!!
Here Are Some Useful Words
Organism – a living thing
Nutrition – the way organisms get their food
Habitat – the place where an organism lives
Predator – an animal that kills and eats another animal
Prey – an animal that is eaten by another animal
Producer – an organism that produces its own food. A plant is a producer
Consumer – an organism that eats other living organisms
Food Chain – a sequence of living things that feed on each other
Look at the pictures below.
Try to name as many animals and plants that you think would live in each habitat?
Forest
Arctic
Lake
Tropical Jungle
Adaptation
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How can animals live in such different places in the world?
Animals and plants are adapted to the conditions of the habitats in which they live. Animals live everywhere on the earth. Some places on earth are very hot and some are very cold. Some places on earth have a lot of water and plants and other places have very little water and plants.
More than 99 percent of Antarctica is covered with ice but a few plants still grow there, mostly lichens, mosses and algae.
Antarctica is very cold, even so it is still home to some animals. Here these animals aredependent on the sea for feeding or are migratory and leave the continent when the cold winter arrives.
Animals can live in many different places in the world because they have, over time, made special adaptations to the area they live in.
What is an adaptation?
An adaptation is a way an animal's body helps it survive, or live in its environment. For example camels have learned to adapt (or change) so that they can survive.
Do you know what a camel uses its hump (s) for?
Animals depend on their physical features to help them obtain food, keep safe, build homes, withstand weather, and attract mates. These physical features are called ‘physical adaptations’. These ‘physical adaptations’ make it possible for the animal to live in a particular place and in a particular way.
Each adaptation has been produced by evolution (say e-vo-lu-tion). This means that the adaptations have developed over many generations.
Below are some examples of the basic adaptations that help creatures survive:
- The shape of a bird's beak
- The number of fingers on an animal
- The colour of an animals fur
- The thickness or thinness of the animals fur
- The shape of the animals nose or ears
Remember, as a member of the Science Bus Club you can ‘Ask Albert’ a question about any of the topics. So if you’re not already a member join today!!
