Habitat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses of "Habitat", see Habitat (disambiguation).
This coral reef in the Phoeni !slands Protected "rea is a rich habitat for sea life.
Fe# creatures make the ice shel$es of "ntarctica their habitat.
" habitat is an ecological or en$ironmental area that is inhabited by a particular species
of animal, plant, or other type of organism.
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!t is the natural en$ironment in #hich an
organism li$es, or the physical en$ironment that surrounds a species population.
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" habitat is made up of physical factors such as soil, moisture, range of temperature, and
a$ailability of light as #ell as biotic factors such as the a$ailability of food and the
presence of predators. " habitat is not necessarily a geographic area*for a parasitic
organism it is the body of its host or e$en a cell #ithin the host+s body.
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Contents
& ,icrohabitat
( ,onotypic habitat
) -ee also
. /otes and references
0 1ternal links
Microhabitat
" microhabitat is the small2scale physical re3uirements of a particular organism or
population.
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Monotypic habitat
The monotypic habitat occurs in botanical and 4oological contets, and is a component of
conser$ation biology. !n restoration ecology of nati$e plant communities or habitats,
some in$asi$e species create monotypic stands that replace and5or pre$ent other species,
especially indigenous ones, from gro#ing there. " dominant coloni4ation can occur from
retardant chemicals euded, nutrient monopoli4ation, or from lack of natural controls
such as herbi$ores or climate, that keep them in balance #ith their nati$e habitats. The
yello# starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, is a botanical monotypic2habitat eample of this,
currently dominating o$er &0,666,666 acres (7&,666 km
(
) in 8alifornia alone.
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The
non2nati$e fresh#ater 4ebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, that coloni4es areas of the
9reat :akes and the ,ississippi ;i$er #atershed, #ithout its home2range predator
control, is a 4oological monotypic2habitat eample. 1$en though its name may seem to
imply simplicity as compared #ith polytypic habitats, the monotypic habitat can be
comple.
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