60Habitats
All living things need a place where they can live
and breed successfully. This place is called a
habitat. Habitats can be as big as a prairie or as
small as a puddle. There can be many different
habitats in a single area of land or sea.
FRAGMENTATION OF HABITAT
Coasts Animals that live here
have to cope with the sea
coming in and out twice a day
and constant battering by waves.Forests These are home to
a wide variety of plants and
animals that live at different
levels among the trees.Mountains Near cold and
rocky mountaintops animals
need a warm coat and nimble
feet to survive.Mangroves The roots of
mangrove trees are surrounded
by salty water, but they make
good hiding places for fish.Coral reefs Reefs provide
homes for hundreds of species.
They are created by the skeletons
of small marine animals.Fragmentation happens when land is
cleared for farming or other uses, so
the original habitat is broken up. The
creatures that lived there are left
with small islands of habitat that
leave them vulnerable to predators
because there is less cover when
they search for food. Conditions
important to plants, such as light
or wind levels, may also change
significantly.A home of their own Every animal and plant needs particular conditions
for it to thrive. Plants need the right temperature, rainfall, and soil to grow
in. Animals need shelter, food, and space to roam around. An organism
will often adapt its lifestyle or even how it looks and behaves to suit its
surroundings. This process is called evolution.ENVIRONMENTAND ECOLOGY