A habitat It is a set of physical and geographic factors that affect the development of an individual, a population, a species or a specific group of species. It is important that the space must offer the right conditions for the species to grow, survive and reproduce in it. For example: forest, swamp, ocean.
In this way, being within your natural habitat it is what gives a species the ability to survive: the only way for it to survive elsewhere is for it to replicate the characteristics of the original habitat.
The habitat includes a number of biotic and abiotic factors, and can be modified by the effect of weather or human action. Biology deals with great interest in the question of habitats, realizing that in the world there are as many types of habitats as there are ecosystems, which depend a lot on the species and on the interactions that between the different species may occur.
Depending on the space in which it develops, a first classification between habitats divides them into freshwater aquatic, saltwater aquatic and terrestrial.
Modification and destruction of habitats
Both human action and certain natural phenomena (droughts, epidemics, fires, hurricanes, land displacement, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, temporary increases or decreases in rainfall) can modify habitat of a species, which brings about a considerable series of changes to adapt to a new environment: the modification of a habitat can even lead to the disappearance of the species.
Most of the species extinctions that occurred between the years 1000 to 2000 were due to human actions, especially due to the destruction of habitats and loss of biodiversity. To warn of the danger that this implies, a calendar date of remembrance and celebration of the habitat was created, on October 6, where it is sought that the human species becomes aware of the danger that some practices bring with respect to other species with which it shares the planet .
Habitat examples
- Forest. Area with a high density of trees and some animals in charge of conserving the soil.
- Desert. Usually uninhabited surface, with low rainfall that at most can host species that adapt to low humidity.
- Mountain. Elevation greater than 700 meters, where the vegetation is staggered and on the upper floors it becomes more resistant to cold.
- bed sheet. Plains located in tropical climates, where the vegetation forms a herbaceous layer. Some trees or shrubs are found in this type of biome.
- Meadow. Landscape whose constant vegetation is characterized by grasses and bushes, and has rodents and small animals as animals.
- Polar region. Areas around the poles, characterized by huge layers of ice. The animals that are best adapted to this are white-furred mammals such as the polar bear, or animals such as squirrels or arctic wolves.
- River. Natural freshwater stream, with vegetation that varies depending on the case: the freshwater fish are usually catfish, piranhas, sturgeons or carp.
- Swamp. Region of stagnant and shallow waters, where aquatic vegetation grows, sometimes very dense.
- Coral reef. Developed in tropical waters, it has different kinds of fauna where shrimp, lobsters, squid and octopus stand out.
- Ocean. Huge land area of seawater, which contains a great diversity of marine flora and fauna.
- Beach. Usually unstable environment with strong seasonal cyclical patterns, where only crabs, insects and small birds survive.
- Broken. Insects, rodents and birds usually inhabit these low flow streams, where there is no danger of navigation or fishing.
- Lakes. More or less extensive bodies of fresh or salt water. There are usually species such as plankton.