Habitat

Habitat
The remaining fragmented habitats of the African Elephant.
A distribution map showing the range and breeding grounds of Great Black-backed Gulls.

A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism.[1][2] It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds (influences and is utilized by) a species population.[3]

Contents

Definition

The term "population" is preferred to "organism" because, while it is possible to describe the habitat of a single black bear, it is also possible that we may not find any particular or individual bear but the grouping of bears that constitute a breeding population and occupy a certain biogeographical area. Further, this habitat could be somewhat different from the habitat of another group or population of black bears living elsewhere. Thus it is neither the species nor the individual for which the term habitat is typically used.

Microhabitat

The term microhabitat is often used to describe the small-scale physical requirements of a particular organism or population.

Monotypic habitat

The monotypic habitat occurs in botanical and zoological contexts, and is a component of conservation biology. In restoration ecology of native plant communities or habitats, some invasive species create monotypic stands that replace and/or prevent other species, especially indigenous ones, from growing there. A dominant colonization can occur from retardant chemicals exuded, nutrient monopolization, or from lack of natural controls such as herbivores or climate, that keep them in balance with their native habitats. The yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, is a botanical monotypic-habitat example of this, currently dominating over 15,000,000 acres (61,000 km2) in California alone.[4][5] The non-native freshwater zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, that colonizes areas of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, without its home-range predator control, is a zoological monotypic-habitat example.

Even though its name may seem to imply simplicity as compared with polytypic habitats, the monotypic habitat can be complex.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dickinson, C.I. 1963. British Seaweeds. The Kew Series
  2. ^ Abercrombie, M., Hickman, C.J. and Johnson, M.L. 1966.A Dictionary of Biology. Penguin Reference Books, London
  3. ^ "Living Things: Habitats and Ecosystems". The Franklin Institute. http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/habitat/habitat.html. Retrieved 29 June 2011. 
  4. ^ Mount Diablo Review, Autumn 2007PDF (286 KiB), Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Retrieved on 2008-10-15.
  5. ^ 1970 distribution of yellow starthistle in the U.S., a map from UCD's Yellow Starthistle Information website
  6. ^ Theel Heather J., Dibble Eric D., Madsen John D. (1948). "Differential influence of a monotypic and diverse native aquatic plant bed on a macroinvertebrate assemblage; an experimental implication of exotic plant induced habitat". Cat.Inist and Springer, Dordrecht, PAYS-BAS. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=20189959. Retrieved 2011-4-17. 

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  • HABITAT — IL SERA QUESTION ici de l’habitant autant que de l’habitation, des relations qui les unissent autant que des unités elles mêmes. Il faut noter tout d’abord l’universalité du phénomène maison, compris non pas comme abri construit mais comme espace …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Hábitat — «Hábitat» redirige aquí. Para otras acepciones, véase Hábitat (desambiguación). En ecología, hábitat es el ambiente que ocupa una población biológica . Es el espacio que reúne las condiciones adecuadas para que la especie pueda residir y… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Habitat 67 — is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc Drouin Quay on the Saint Lawrence River at 2600, Pierre Dupuy Avenue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its design was created by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master s thesis at McGill… …   Wikipedia

  • habitat — HABITÁT, habitate, s.n. Suprafaţă locuită de o populaţie, de o specie de plante sau de animale; biotop. – Din fr. habitat. Trimis de gall, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  HABITÁT s. v. biotop. Trimis de siveco, 13.09.2007. Sursa: Sinonime  habitát s …   Dicționar Român

  • Habitat II — the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was held in Istanbul, Turkey from June 3 14, 1996, twenty years after the 1976 Habitat conference in Vancouver [http://www.unhabitat.org/declarations/vancouver.asp] that had led to the… …   Wikipedia

  • habitat — habitat, biotype, range, station are comparable in their technical biological senses in which they agree in denoting the place in which a particular kind of organism lives or grows. Habitat refers especially to the kind of environment (as desert …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • hábitat — (plural hábitats) sustantivo masculino 1. Área: ecología Territorio o lugar con condiciones ambientales adecuadas para que habite un conjunto de seres vivos: El hábitat de estos animales está siendo destruido por la deforestación. 2. Área:… …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • Habitat 16 — (Прага,Чехия) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: Habartická 16, Прага, 19000, Чех …   Каталог отелей

  • Habitat HQ — (Мельбурн,Австралия) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 333 St Kilda Road, 3182 М …   Каталог отелей

  • habitat — index abode, building (structure), domicile, habitation (dwelling place), home (domicile), local …   Law dictionary

  • habitat — habìtāt m <G habitáta> DEFINICIJA biol. manje ili veće područje pogodno za život jedne vrste, skupine ili jedinke [podvodni habitat; mikro habitat]; habitacija ETIMOLOGIJA vidi habitacija …   Hrvatski jezični portal

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