Types of habitat: Terrestrial habitat explained with examples

Types of Habitat:

Recall that habitat refers to the dwelling place (or home) of living organisms. This home (habitat) of living organisms is always considered as their natural environment (or territory) where they find food, shelter and mates respectively.

The above concept of habitat will give rise to ecosystems where communities of organisms interact with one another, alongside their environment. Simple put, this interaction is always seen among the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem.

Please read the introductory concept of habitat here.

Generally, habitat is put into three types. These are:

1. Terrestrial habitat

2. Aquatic habitat

3. Arboreal habitat

It is worthy of note to state that some animals may be both terrestrial and aquatic at different phases of their lives. In this regard, we have animals that thrive on land and water at various stages of their life cycle. Such animals are termed amphibians. Examples include toad, frog, newt, salamander, axolotl, rhacophorus, caecilia, olm, paedophryne, hellbender, necturus, plethodontidae, eryops, temnospondyli and andrias.

Although the habitat typically refers to the natural dwelling place of organisms, they may also be artificially created by man. These are termed man-made habitats. Examples of man-made terrestrial habitat include gardens, national parks, mines and agricultural land.

You can read on agricultural land, types and uses here.

In this article, we shall delve into terrestrial habitat.

Terrestrial Habitat

One of the meanings of the word terrestrial is: 'living or growing on land'. In this regard, you can think of terrestrial habitat as the solid part of earth (termed land) which serves as a natural home to a variety of organisms. Botanically, mesophytes and xerophytes are the plants present in terrestrial habitat.

• Mesophytes are terrestrial plants that grow on soils containing moderate amount of water. These plants are neither adapted to grow in (or on) water; nor do they grow well on arid land.

• Xerophytes are plants that grow on soils that contain very little amount of water. They are present in the desert or arid land.

You can read on the differences between plants and crops here.

The earth as we know is comprised of 29.2% land. This land serves as a large ecosystem or terrestrial habitat. However, it is apparent that the plant vegetation on land are markedly different as we move from one region to another. This is as a result of the contrasting climate among these lands. Therefore, the terrestrial ecosystem is grouped into biomes, with each biome characterized by its respective plant and animal community.

Biome refers to a natural community of organisms dwelling and interacting in the same region of terrestrial environment.

Please read on the concept of an ecosystem here.

The climatic conditions in each biome defines the composition of its biotic environment; (that is, the type of plants and animals present within it).

Biomes are put into different types as determined by their respective climates. Once again, it is noteworthy to state that these biomes are considered as types of terrestrial habitat.

Below are the types of terrestrial habitat (or biomes):

• Grassland or Savanna

• Tropical rainforest

• Swamp forest

• Plantation forest

• Desert

• Montane forest

• Tundra

• Afro-alphines

• Temperate forest

• Boreal forest or Taigas

The enumerated terrestrial habitats are summarized below:

• Savanna (Grassland)

The grassland, as the name depicts, is populated with grasses alongside a few scattered trees and shrubs. Apart from these plant community, the grassland also serve as a natural home (habitat) to a variety of animals. They include the lions, zebras, buffaloes, hyenas, birds, insects, wildebeests, antelopes, elephants, giraffes, leopards and so on.

Please read more on the savanna (grassland) here.

• Tropical Rainforest 

The tropical rainforest serves as a home for the largest number of plant and animal species on earth. In simple terms, most of earth's plants and animals are found here.

Examples of plants present in the tropical rainforest include flowering plants, epiphytes, fig tree, stinking corpse lily, cacao, bromeliaceae, passion flower and many more.

Animal community found in the tropical rainforest include birds, sloths, jaguar, snakes, frogs, monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, bats, lizards, newts, salamanders, insects, and much more.

Please read a detailed explanation on tropical rainforest here.

• Plantation Forest

This is a terrestrial habitat covering a large area of land containing commercially planted trees. Typically, one type of tree is planted on the entire plantation forest, giving rise to a monoculture forest. The plantation forest therefore serves as a terrestrial habitat for the planted trees.

The habitat of plantation forest contain trees commercially grown for their wood. Interestingly, this forest can produce a high volume of wood within a short period of time. In fact, the volume of wood produced here is greater than those produced on various natural forests.

A plantation forest may also be termed as tree forest, forest plantation, tree farm, or timber forest. This forest is often managed by the states in different countries of the world. An example of a plantation forest is the new forest in United Kingdom. Other examples are parts of the forêt de compiègne in France, and parts of the black forest in Germany.

Examples of trees grown in plantation forest include pines, oaks, red gum eucalyptus, Douglas fir, willow, tasmanian blue gum, Christmas tree, teak, and kapok tree.

Please read on agricultural terms and their meanings here.

• Desert

The desert is a terrestrial habitat with extreme temperatures; and are thus often referred to as dry land, or arid land. This extreme temperature imply that it can become very hot during the day and cold at night.

Examples of living organisms present in the desert include various drought resistant plants (xerophytes), snakes, camel, ants, scorpions, sand cats, aardvark, desert iguana and so on.

Please read a detailed explanation of the desert biome here.

• Temperate Forest

The temperate forest receive less annual rainfall when compared to the tropical rainforest. The plant community here are dominated by evergreen coniferous trees. Also present here are deciduous trees and shrubs. Examples include oaks, sycamore, beech, walnut, maples, pinus basswood, spruce, carya, hickory, elm, maple and so on.

Animal community found in temperate forest include various species of bird, squirrel, antelope, rabbit, bobcat, black bear, snakes and so on.

You can read on the characteristics of tropical rainforest here.

• Boreal Forest

Boreal forest, often referred to as taigas, are considered as the largest land (terrestrial) biome on earth. The climate here is characteristically cold, although it may vary in certain instances.

The biotic composition of the boreal forest comprises of fewer species of plants and animals when compared to other biomes. Examples of animals found here include boreal chorus frog, wolverine, bald eagle, coyote, boreal owl, boreal woodland caribou, moose, gray wolf, wood bison and so on. Plants present here are black spruce, pine, fir, paper birch, cranberry, alder, blueberry and wild rose.

You can read on forest reserves in Nigeria here.

• Afro-alpine

The afro-alpine are highlands (mountainous) with heights around 3,200 meters to 5,000 meters, and are characterized with fragmented vegetation. The afro-alpine biome is notable in tropical eastern Africa. However, mount Cameroon is an afro-alpine biome present in western Arfica.

The plant community in afro-alpine are characterized by shrubs, ferns, moss, grasses and flowering plants. Animals found in afro-alpine include bearded vulture, Ethiopian wolf, verreaux's eagle, gelada baboon, porcupine, grass rat, golden jackal and falcon.

Please read an introduction to biome here.

• Tundra

The tundra habitat (ecosystems) are found around the arctic and mountain tops. The climate here is cold and windy, with very minimal rainfall.

The plant community in tundra typically lacks trees. However, cushion plants, grasses and mosses may survive in this ecosystem. Animals found here include mountain goats, mountain sheep, marmots, birds, polar bears, artic foxes, insects, snow geese, gray wolves and musk oxen.

You can attempt questions and answers in biology here.