Habitat refers to the natural home of an animal. An animal can live in a nest, a burrow, a hole, a kennel, a tree, in the sea, in a lake, in a mound, on another animal, inside another animal, a hive, a cave, or in a tunnel.

These habitats may be in different climate zones, such as warm locations or cold locations.

Often when zoologists discuss habitat, they also mention climate, seasons, and weather. Climate and weather are different. Climate includes temperature (heat), humidity (moisture in the air), atmospheric pressure (air pressure), wind, hours of sunlight, and rainfall. Weather is the present condition of these elements in a specific place (usually daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly).

Many factors affect climate, such as latitude (how close the country or location is to the equator), terrain (land), altitude (height), bodies of water (such as lakes, ponds, streams, lagoons, and rivers), and water currents.

There are five climate types: Polar, cool humid, warm humid, dry, and tropical humid.

Polar: In Polar climates, such as the Arctic Circle (North Pole) and Antarctica (South Pole), there are ice caps (a land with snow and ice) and tundras (treeless mountain areas).

Cool: In cool climates there are subarctic regions (next to the Polar Regions) and continental regions, where there are cool or warm summers.

Warm: In warm climates there are temperate zones, humid subtropical regions, and the Mediterranean. A temperate zone has four seasons: summer, autumn (called fall because the leaves fall off trees), winter, and spring. Hot subtropical regions are moist and warm. Mediterranean areas have hot summers and cool winters.

Dry: Dry climates include steppe regions (flat lands with few trees) and deserts (dry with almost no plants).

Tropical: Tropical climates have savanna (grasslands and trees) and rain forests (lots of trees and lots of rain).

 

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM