Why habitats are important to animals

The first part of our Roughlee Habitats Report is an assessment, or interpretation, of the results of the Phase 1 habitat surveys. Previous Post. Next Post. What will you find? As the sun shines, it radiates light energy. Plants absorb the light energy, convert it to sugars photosynthesis , and produce energy for other wildlife.

The energy from the sun moves its way through ecosystems by predators eating their prey. A food web breaks down how all the producers, consumers, and decomposers interact in an ecosystem and how energy is transferred between species. When animals eat their prey, they consume more than just energy. They also absorb all the chemicals and nutrients inside the prey. Sometimes animals ingest pollutants that can become stored in their fat and tissues. Human-caused pollution has added heavy metals, oil, and industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals to the environment.

As the chain of predator and prey continues up the food web, the toxins become more concentrated and move higher and higher up the food web. The process that causes the concentration of a substance to increase as it moves up the food web is called bioaccumulation.

The pollutants can have a disastrous effect on the food web and potentially kill species. A natural disturbance is any event that causes a disruption to the current state of an ecosystem. Natural disturbances are caused by forces of nature, including weather, geology, and biological fluctuations. This may include fires, floods, earthquakes, diseases, and droughts. After a disturbance impacts an ecosystem, there can be devastation, but healthy ecosystems have an amazing ability to bounce back.

Some ecosystems even depend on disturbances, such as the threatened longleaf pine ecosystem. Sometimes the ecosystem will go back to its former structure, with the same plant and animal species. Other times, the disturbance will create something new by allowing new species to populate the area. Not all disturbances are natural. Human actions have contributed to many disturbances seen in ecosystems today. While natural disturbances happen on occasion, human disturbances are putting constant pressure on ecosystems and dramatically impacting species.

Human disturbances, including clear-cutting, habitat fragmentation, and pollution, are continuously affecting ecosystems. The moment the ecosystem begins adjusting to one stress, another appears. Many ecosystems that we depend on are not given enough time to adapt to the new conditions. The natural cycle of disturbances—growth, dieback, and growth—cannot properly function because too many disturbances are putting pressure on the ecosystem at once. Wild animals are always on the move.

They move from place to place in search of food, mates, shelter, and water. Many animals do not have to move far in order to have all their needs met, but other animals—for example migratory birds, wolves , mountain lions , or butterflies —require much more space. Currently many species with large territories, including gray wolves, are threatened because habitat loss and fragmentation have limited their available space.

Roads, fences, and buildings cut off habitat and force wildlife into smaller areas. Conservationists have to take into account the different spatial needs of wildlife when designing plans to protect them. They have to think about the territory size, different habitat types, and migration routes that wildlife need. A wildlife corridor is a tract of land that connects different wildlife habitats such as refuges, parks, or rivers that might otherwise be separated by human development.

For example, the common carpenter ant needs only a few square inches for an entire colony to develop tunnels, find food, and complete all the activities it needs to survive.

In contrast, cougar s are very solitary , territorial animals that need a large amount of space. Cougars can cover square kilometers square miles of land to hunt and find a mate.

A cougar could not survive in the same amount of space that a carpenter ant needs. Plants need space, too. Coast redwood trees, like the ones in Redwood National Park in the U.

A tree that massive would not have enough space to grow and thrive in a typical community park or yard. Space is not the same as range; the range of an animal is the part of the world it inhabits.

For example, in the northern part of the U. If there were a drought , plants would become scarce. It would no longer be a suitable arrangement. Too much food can also disrupt a habitat. Algae is a microscopic aquatic organism that makes its own food through the process of photosynthesis. Nutrients like phosphorous contribute to the spread of algae.

Algae also dies very quickly, and the decay ing algae produces an algal bloom. The algal bloom can discolor the water, turning it green, red, or brown. Algal blooms can also absorb oxygen from the water, destroy ing the habitat of organisms like fish and plants. Water Water is essential to all forms of life.

Every habitat must have some form of a water supply. Some organisms need a lot of water, while others need very little. For example, dromedary camel s are known for their ability to carry goods and people for long distances without needing much water.

Dromedary camels, which have one hump, can travel kilometers miles without a drink of water. Even with very little access to water in a hot, dry climate, dromedary camels have a suitable arrangement in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Cattails, on the other hand, are plants that grow best in wet areas, like marsh es and swamp s.

Dense colonies of these tall, spiky plants grow directly in the mud beneath lakes, stream banks, and even neighborhood pond s.

Imagine a pond at the bottom of a dirt-covered cliff. If enough loose dirt slid down into the pond, it could fill up the pond and absorb the water, not leaving enough for the cattails to grow.

Shelter also provides a space for eating, sleeping, hunting, and raising a family. Shelters come in many forms. A single tree, for example, can provide sheltered habitats for many different organisms. For a caterpillar , shelter might be the underside of a leaf.

For a mushroom fungus , shelter might be the cool, damp area near tree root s. For a bald eagle , shelter may be a high perch to make a nest and watch for food. Although they are not endangered, their habitat is growing smaller. If their rainforest home continues to shrink, the red-eyed tree frog will not have the space it needs to survive.

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