Student Article
Habitats and Ecosystems: Understanding Their Differences and Impact on Biodiversity
Organism (noun): Anything that can grow, use energy, reproduce, and respond to its environment.
Species (noun): A group of living organisms that can reproduce with each other.
Microhabitat (noun): A smaller section of a habitat.
Biome (noun): A large community of organisms based on shared features.
Biodiversity (noun): The variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat.
Curious about where organisms live and how they interact? Let's explore habitats and ecosystems!
The difference between a habitat and an ecosystem
In science, habitats, ecosystems, environments, and niches have distinct meanings. A habitat is a geographic location where an organism lives, like a forest or a desert. An ecosystem is a set of interactions among species and between living and non-living parts of nature.
Habitats
Habitats can be divided into smaller sections called microhabitats, like different heights in a tree canopy. Grouping adjacent habitats based on shared features, like climate, creates a biome that supports a community of organisms. For example, microbes living around an animal's body inhabit its microbiome.There are different types of habitats, such as forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, and artificial habitats. Aquatic habitats include ponds, shallow waters, oceanic areas, deep ocean floors, intertidal zones, and coastal areas.
Environments
An environment is the natural phenomena that surround and interact with a particular organism. It has a relative position in time and space, whereas a habitat doesn't move. For example, a desert lizard active at night experiences cool temperatures and nocturnal predators, while a diurnal species copes with heat during the day.
Niches
A niche is the subset of environmental conditions that affect a specific population of organisms. In ecology, a niche is determined by the resources required by the population. In evolution, a niche is the outcome of environmental pressures that drive natural selection.
Biodiversity
Habitats determine biodiversity. Tropical rainforests and coral reefs are rich in species. Habitat richness, the number of different locations in an area, is associated with higher biodiversity. Local geography, surface topology, and latitude are strong predictors of habitat richness.
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Organism (noun): Anything that can grow, use energy, reproduce, and respond to its environment.
Species (noun): A group of living organisms that can reproduce with each other.
Microhabitat (noun): A smaller section of a habitat.
Biome (noun): A large community of organisms based on shared features.
Biodiversity (noun): The variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat.