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Terrestrial
Terrestrial habitats are ones that are found on land, like forests, grasslands, deserts, shorelines,
and wetlands. Terrestrial habitats also include man made habitats, like farms, towns, and cities,
and habitats that are under the earth, like caves and mines. The kinds of plants that grow in a
terrestrial habitat, and the kinds of animals that can live there, are most influenced by the
amount of moisture that is in the soil or that comes down as rain or snow, how cold the area
can be during winter, how many nutrients are available in the soil, and whether or not the land
is flooded with water.
FRESHWATER
This freshwater habitat is a busy place!
Rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds, and streams are all
freshwater habitats. So are wetlands like swamps,
which have woody plants and trees; and marshes,
which have no trees but lots of grasses and reeds.
Freshwater accounts for only three percent of the
world’s water. (The rest is saltwater.) But despite that
tiny amount, freshwater habitats are homes for more
than 100,000 species of plants and animals.
More Than Fish
Fish living in freshwater habitats have plenty of company. Snails, worms, turtles, frogs, marsh
birds, mollusks, alligators, beavers, otters, snakes, and many types of insects live there too.
Some unusual animals, like the river dolphin and the diving bell spider, are freshwater
creatures. Plants such as algae, cattails, water lilies, and aspen and willow trees help keep the
water clean by using their root systems to filter pollution and excess nutrients from the water.
Famous Freshwaters
The largest freshwater habitat in the world is
the Everglades, a 1.5 million acre wetlands in
southern Florida. The Amazon River in South
America begins in the Andes Mountains and
goes 4,000 miles (6,400 km) to the Atlantic
Ocean; it flows through six countries, including
Peru and Ecuador. Lake Baikal in Siberia, a
region in Russia, is the world’s biggest lake. This
North Asian body of water contains one-fifth of all the freshwater on the planet.
So whether you’re a hungry turtle, a pollutant-sucking plant, or a thirsty human who also likes
to play in the water, freshwater habitats are vital ecosystems for our planet!
Marine habitats
The marine environment supplies many kinds of habitats that support marine life. Marine
life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term marine comes from
the Latin mare, meaning sea or ocean). A habitat is an ecological or environmental area
inhabited by one or more living species.
Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ocean habitats. Coastal habitats
are found in the area that extends from as far as the tide comes in on the shoreline out to
the edge of the continental shelf. Most marine life is found in coastal habitats, even though
the shelf area occupies only seven percent of the total ocean area. Open ocean habitats
are found in the deep ocean beyond the edge of the continental shelf.
Alternatively, marine habitats can be divided into pelagic and demersal zones. Pelagic
habitats are found near the surface or in the open water column, away from the bottom
of the ocean. Demersal habitats are near or on the bottom of the ocean. An organism
living in a pelagic habitat is said to be a pelagic organism, as in pelagic fish. Similarly, an
organism living in a demersal habitat is said to be a demersal organism, as in demersal
fish. Pelagic habitats are intrinsically shifting and ephemeral, depending on what ocean
currents are doing.
Estuarine fish habitats occur where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with the salty
ocean water. This brackish water environment supports a variety of fish habitats, including:
These environments provide important feeding, spawning and nursery sites for many aquatic
animals. There are animals, such as crabs and some mosquitoes, that rely on estuarine water to
complete their life cycles and others, such as migratory shore birds, visit estuaries to feed and
rest.
Did you know...
70% of coastal fish species in south-eastern Australia need to move through estuaries to
complete their life cycle.
Many fish species spend all or part of their life in estuaries and as a result estuaries support
diverse and productive commercial and recreational fisheries and the oyster industry. These are
important contributors to the local economies of many regional towns.