Habitats

Of all the land habitats, the greatest variety of life forms is found in the tropical rainforest. It is estimated that almost 3 million plant and animal species live in this habitat.

Heavy, regular precipitation and high temperatures promote the growth of tropical rainforests, which provide protection and food for their inhabitants. Rainforests are found in parts of Africa and southeastern Asia. The largest and most well-known is the Amazon rainforest in South America.

The clouds may not look threatening now, but nearly every day they build into afternoon thunderstorms. The rains produce lush vegetation. Much of the moisture then returns to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration from plants in a never-ending cycle.

Tall trees grab much of the sunlight for themselves. Inland from the river, their leaves form a continuous layer high up off the ground, preventing light from reaching the forest floor. Birds, bats, monkeys, snakes and insects live up in this canopy.

The rainforest floor is dark, with low, sparse vegetation. Large mammals and snakes such as anacondas roam here. Between the floor and the canopy is the understory. Monkeys and jaguars are some of the mammals dwelling in the Amazon rainforest understory.

The river is part of the habitat of animals who live along it. For many, it’s a source of water, and for some, it’s a source of food. The river also provides a completely different underwater habitat for organisms such as fish.

Wetlands go by many names—marshes, swamps, bogs, sloughs, bayous, fens. Each type of wetland has its own set of characteristics, but all wetlands are areas where water covers the ground or is at or near the surface for all or most of the year.

Wetlands are habitats to both land and water organisms, most notably a group of specially adapted plants called hydrophytes. You can find wetlands in different climates, from the far north to the tropics.

Wetlands sometimes form in low-lying areas surrounded by higher land, especially where there is poor drainage. Where the water table—the level of water in the ground—meets the surface is where you’ll find wetlands.

Bogs are wetlands in which peat builds up. Peat is dead and decaying plant matter, especially sphagnum moss. The peat forms soft, wet ground that is too spongy for you to walk on.

Where the land rises a bit or the water table is lower than the surface, the wetland generally ends, and shrubs and small trees can grow. In some wetlands, such as swamps, specially adapted trees can grow right in the water.

Like all animals, humans require habitats that provide the things they need to survive. While some animals modify their environments to help meet their survival needs—like beavers building a lodge, for example—no other animal changes the environment like humans do. 

Especially in urban environments, humans create their own habitats.

While some animals modify their environments to help meet their survival needs—like beavers building a lodge, for example—no other animal changes the environment like humans do. Especially in urban environments, humans create their own habitats.

In a city like Manchester, England, the earth is paved over, and homes and office buildings line city streets. It may seem unnatural, but a city is a habitat because it provides the shelter, food, and other things humans need to survive.

Within the artificial habitat created by humans in a city, natural habitats exist. Parks, yards and other green spaces provide habitats for plants, birds, small mammals, insects and other organisms.