habitat

Biologist

2022

We explain what a habitat is, what types exist and describe the habitats of the lion and the jaguar. Also, what is an ecological niche.

A habitat has the appropriate conditions for the development of a species.

What is a habitat?

A habitat is the physical place where a certain community of organisms lives, be they animals, mushrooms, plants or even microorganisms (microhabitat).

Its about environment whose conditions are appropriate for the community in question grow, develop and reproduce. Depending on the needs of that community, the habitat can be as wide as a Forest or one town, or as narrow as the intestinal tract of a human being.

This concept is used both in the biology Y ecology, like in the architecture and urbanism, in the latter case applied to the vision of the human being (anthropic). Although there are several definitions of the term, they all have in common that they refer to the location of life: the place where a biotic element can be found. There is no possible habitat where there is no life.

The term habitat should not be confused with that of ecological niche. The latter designates more specific aspects of the way in which a community of organisms it is located within its habitat compared to other species competitors or complementary, taking into account the specific environmental conditions. Within a habitat there can be many different ecological niches.

Habitat types

Many living things have their habitat in the sea, both on the bottom and on the surface.

Generally, habitats are classified into three:

  • Marine habitats. Those located in the hydrosphere, that is, in any region of the oceans Y seaseither on the surface or in the depths.
  • Terrestrial habitats. Those located in the geosphere, that is, on land, on any of the continents or geological features that compose them: moutains, valleys, plains, etc.
  • Inland water habitats. Those located in fresh waters, that is, in lakes, rivers and other water locations far from the sea.

Habitat examples

Possible habitat examples can be extremely varied. A lake and its tributary rivers may be the habitat of certain types of salmon, for example, while the surrounding forest may well be the habitat of the bear that will try to catch them when they jump upstream.

At the same time, the upper part of the moutains From where the river descends they can be the habitat of large birds such as the eagle, while, on the other side, the delta or the mouth of the river will be the habitat of certain types of crocodile.

It all depends on where we place the perspective. In fact, as you read this, we could say that you are in your built habitat: the town where you live

Lion habitat

The lion's habitats are dry and warm, like the African savanna.

Lions currently have a fairly restricted habitat. They can be found in certain territories of the Africa Saharan Africa, as well as certain regions of India and Southeast Africa, especially in the bed sheets and grasslands, extensive, dry and hot regions, in which at most predator of the food chain.

Currently few lions lead wildlife, as the species is very threatened with extinction, since your sources of food they are few and their encounters with the human species, almost always, fatal.

Jaguar habitat

A jaguar in the Amazon rainforest.

The jaguar is found in the humid and humid temperate tropical forests of the American continent. It lives especially in Mexican forests (such as Sonora or Yucatán), but also in Guatemala, El Salvador.

Its population is more abundant in South America, in the Amazon region shared by Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It is also possible to find them in the Patagonian forests of Chile and Argentina, where they are known as yaguareté.

Ecological niche

An ecological niche is the way in which a species or a community of organisms position themselves within a specific habitat in the face of environmental conditions (advantageous, disadvantageous) and the other species that coexist in said space (predators, prey, commensals, etc. ).

In other words, when talking about the ecological niche of a species, its specific relationship with the other elements that are part of its ecosystem is mentioned.

Thus, there can be two different types of ecological niche:

  • Fundamental or potential. Refers to the minimum conditions within a ecosystem that a specific and specific species requires to survive and breed.
  • Cash or real. It refers to the same previous needs, but within the framework of competition and interrelation with other species.
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