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Animal Habitats are the natural environment that can support the survival and reproduction of animals. It provides shelter, food, water, and air. It is a place where plants, animals, and other organisms coexist. Biotic and abiotic are the components that interact to support life. There are a variety of habitats terrestrial and aquatic depending upon the environment and the life they support. Other environmental factors like temperature, pH, and humidity play a role in sustaining live. There are adaptations in the organisms that help them survive in different environments.
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Key terms: Animal habitat, environment, coexists, reproduction, survival, microenvironment.
What is a habitat?
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In terms of Ecology, a natural environment that can help in the dwelling of an organism by supporting survival and reproduction is called a Habitat. A habitat provides food, shelter, air, and water to the organism. It has two components namely biotic and abiotic components both help in supporting the organism.
What is a microenvironment?
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A microenvironment is a smaller version of the habitat, that differs in some parts from the main habitat. A microenvironment supports more unique species and they are not found in the larger habitat. For example the pool or a rock that harbors organisms.
Read more: Components of ecosystem
Components of habitat
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There are two components of habitat that help the organism to survive. They are:
- Biotic: This component consists of all the living organisms in a habitat. Their Biological by-products and their interaction are important for the reproduction of the organism and food. It includes all the living things like Humans, animals, plants, microbes, etc.
- Abiotic: Abiotic components include the non-living components of the habitat that are both the physical conditions like temperature, sunlight, pH, humidity, etc., and the chemical agents like gases and minerals.
Components of habitat
What are the types of habitats?
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The habitat can be classified into two types, terrestrial and aquatic habitat. The animals that live on land belong to terrestrial habitats. They are of wide range from grassland to desert. On the other hand, the animals that live in water belong to aquatic habitats.
Terrestrial habitats: They are habitats present on the earth's surface. There are three kinds of terrestrial habitats.
- Desert: This habitat is dry and mostly sandy. The environment is hot during the day and cold during the night. The organism generally lives in the hole during the day to prevent heat and comes out at night. The plants that are present here have specific modifications to prevent the loss of water and they are generally succulent.
- Mountains: In this region, the plants are modified and cone-shaped, so that snow does not settle on the plants. The leaves are needle shapes. Mountain land has a diverse range of habitat and thus support a wide variety of plants and animals. The animals have thick fur so that they are protected from the cold.
- Grasslands: These habitats are present in grassy areas and have more rain than a desert but less than a forest. The plants that grow here do not need much water.
Types of habitats
Aquatic habitats: Animals and plants that live and survive inside the water are said to live in an aquatic habitat. There are two types of aquatic habitats freshwater and marine water.
- Ponds: It is a freshwater ecosystem and can be both permanent and temporary. It falls in the lentic ecosystem. Other examples of freshwater habitats are rivers, lakes, and streams.
- Ocean: It is a marine water habitat. The animals that live in oceans have an organ called gills that help them to utilize the dissolved oxygen. Some like whales and dolphins also have nostrils.
Read more: Aquatic habitat
Environmental factors
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Abiotic factors also play an important role in the destruction of organisms. This includes temperature, pH, salinity, humidity, and the intensity of light. A broad spectrum of plants can survive the environment if there is a little change in the environment but some narrow-range plants and animals are very specific to the environment that are present. Environmental factors can disturb their survival and reproduction. Habitat ecology is the study of the natural environment where an organism can survive and reproduce.
A natural environment that can help in the survival of an organism is called its habitat. There are two components biotic and abiotic that interact and help in survival. The habitat can be terrestrial and aquatic depending on the location of the habitat. There are some adaptations in the organism to help them survive in different environments.
Things to Remember
- A natural environment that can help in the reproduction and survival of an organism is called a habitat.
- There are two components of habitat: Biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living).
- There are two types of habitats: terrestrial (land) and aquatic (water).
- Grasslands, mountains, and dessert are the different types of terrestrial habitats.
- Aquatic habitats include freshwater (rivers, ponds) and marine water (oceans).
- Certain environmental factors like sunlight, humidity, and temperature determine a habitat.
- Microenvironment is a smaller form of habitat that supports more specific species.
Read more: Terrestrial ecosystem
Previous Year Questions
- Which of the following is correct?...[JIPMR 2009]
- Fusion reaction takes place at high temperature because...[NEET UG 2011]
- Trien is...[AIIMS 2018]
- Sucrose on hydrolysis gives...[NEET UG 2020]
- Which of the following has zero dipole moment?...[NEET UG 1996]
- A disc of mass 2kg and diameter 2m is performing rotational motion. Find the work done, if the disc is rotating from 300rpm to 600rpm.
- The angle between two diagonals of a cube is….[KCET 2014]
- The electric field at a point is..
- Extraction of zinc from zinc blende is achieved by...[JEE Advanced 2007]
- The nucleic acid base having two possible binding sites is...[AIIMS 2004]
Sample Questions
Ques: What are the examples of a habitat? (1 mark )
Ans: Some of examples of habitats are: woodland, grassland, seashore, ocean, etc.
Ques: What is the importance of a habitat? (2 marks)
Ans: A habitat has both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors. They help in the survival and reproduction of the organisms. The interaction between the organism both at biotic and abiotic levels is important. Some animals need a specific environment and cannot tolerate changes in the environment.
Ques: What are the modifications done in organisms for their survival? (2 marks)
Ans: Certain modifications are important for the survival of the organism. Some are:
- Animals in the mountains have thick fur so that they can tolerate the cold environment.
- Plants in the desert are succulent which helps to reduce the loss of water.
- The plants in the mountains have needle-like leaves and are cone-shaped, this does not allow the snow to settle.
- Grassland support plants that do not need more water for growth.
Ques: What are the types of aquatic habitats? (1 mark)
Ans: Aquatic habitats can be classified as freshwater and marine. Fresh water includes ponds, rivers, and streams and marine water includes oceans.
Ques: How do terrestrial and aquatic organisms breathe? (2 marks)
Ans: The terrestrial organism breathes by using the lungs as they have molecular oxygen which is present in the air. On the other hand, aquatic animals breathe by the use of gills as they have to utilize the dissolved oxygen present in water. But there are organisms like whales and dolphins that have nostrils for the same.
Ques: What are the examples of biotic and abiotic components of the habitat? (2 marks)
Ans: Biotic components comprise all the living organisms in the habitat. It includes plants, animals, and microorganisms. On the other hand, the abiotic components include the non-living things in the habitat. It includes temperature, humidity, sunlight, etc.
Ques: Name different types of forests and the animal that live in them. (3 marks)
Ans: There are three subtypes of the forest:
Temperate: This forest is found in temperate regions and is the 2nd largest biome on the planet. It is exposed to both cold air and warm air masses. Examples: red foxes and white-tailed deer.
Tropical: They are present in the region with a tropical rainforest climate and have no dry seasons. Therefore are evergreen. Examples: jaguar and mountain gorilla.
Boreal: Boreal forests are also called taiga and are present in the northernmost part of the earth. They are an important carbon sink. Examples: Grizzly bear, Elk.
Ques: What is habitat ecology? (1 mark)
Ans: The science that helps us understand the interaction between living and non-living things for the survival of the organism is called habitat ecology. Based on this interaction the distribution and the abundance of the organism is determined.
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