Adaptation And Habitats - Introduction, Types & Details

Adaptations and habitats explain how living organisms survive and thrive in different environments. Adaptations are the special features or behaviours that help plants, animals, and microorganisms adjust to their surroundings, while a habitat is a natural environment where an organism lives. These topics, covered in the Class 12 Ecology chapter in Biology, help students understand how species interact with their environment and evolve to meet the demands of their specific habitats.

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This Story also Contains

1. Adaptation Meaning
2. Types of Adaptations
3. Adaptation of Animals
4. Adaptation of Plants
5. Types of Habitats

Adaptation Meaning

In biology, adaptations mean any modifications in the form and structure, in the behaviour, and the physiological processes of plants and animals about their environments including temperature, light intensity, water status, type of soil, and atmosphere of the habitats.

Habitats, therefore, are the particular places where organisms exist, with a particular composite of abiotic and biotic factors. It is quite relevant because adaptations help increase an organism’s fitness which is the organism’s capacity to survive and reproduce in its environment. They allow organisms to get the most out of any available resources, avoid predation, deal with stress factors and outcompete other members of the same species for reproductive opportunities and food. Knowledge of adaptations is important to know ecological processes hence allowing one to grasp the dynamics of how and why certain species continue to exist and even adapt in the face of changing pressures in their respective environment.

Types of Adaptations

The different types of adaptations are:

Structural Adaptations

• Structural adaptations: These are changes in an organism’s body or morphology, which increase the survivability and ability of the organism to reproduce in the habitat.

• Camouflage: Body features that make the organism have a low visibility ratio with the environment such as the stick insects which resemble twigs or the peppered moths whose skin resembles the colour of the environment.

• Mimicry: the appearance of one species that makes it favourable for them to resemble the other, such as insects that resemble venomous snakes or birds to avoid being picked by other birds, such as the viceroy butterfly resembling the toxic monarch butterfly.

Physiological Adaptations

The physiological adaptations are explained below:

• Physiological adaptations: these are those changes that are exhibited internally to help an organism regulate its functions and optimally adapt to the environment it exists.

• Thermoregulation: Protection of vital physiologic processes from thermal damage that includes thermoregulation e.g. sweating in human beings or countercurrent heat exchange in whales.

• Osmoregulation: Maintenance of the fluid and electrolyte composition for alterations in response to water availability or the challenges that come with living in freshwater or saltwater as in aquatic species.

Behavioural Adaptations

• Behavioural adaptations: are the outlets or behaviours that an organism displays to maximize its existence and breeding.

• Migration: Following the availability of resources or change of seasons for breeding, animals move from one geographical location to another, for instance, birds that fly to the southern part of the country during winter.

• Hibernation: Its ability to become less active during times when the external environment seems rather unfavourable to animals and therefore saves energy.

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Adaptation of Animals

Here are a few examples of adaptations in animals living in different habitats:

Adaptations of Animals in Deserts

• Water Conservation: Camels store fat for water, and kangaroo rats get water from seeds.
• Heat Tolerance: Fennec foxes have large ears to release heat, and many animals are nocturnal to avoid the sun.

Adaptations of Animals in Grasslands

• Camouflage: Lions and deer blend with grasses for hiding or hunting.
• Speed: Animals like antelopes and cheetahs run fast to escape predators or catch prey.

Adaptations of Animals in Tropical Rainforests

• Climbing and Gliding: Monkeys and sloths climb, flying squirrels glide to move between trees.
• Colouration: Bright colours warn predators or help animals blend into dense foliage.

Adaptations of Animals in Polar Regions

• Insulation: Polar bears and seals have thick fur and blubber for warmth.
• Seasonal Changes: Arctic foxes change fur colour, and some animals migrate or hibernate in winter.

Adaptation of Plants

Plants have special adaptations that help them survive in different environments, from deserts to rainforests.:

Adaptations of Plants in Deserts

Desert plants adapt to extreme heat and limited water with water storage in thick stems (e.g., cacti), reduced leaves to minimize water loss, and deep or widespread roots to access water.

Adaptations of Plants in Tropical Rainforests

Rainforest plants adapt to low light with large leaves for more sunlight capture, drip tips to shed water quickly, and epiphytic growth (like orchids) to reach sunlight above the forest floor.

Adaptations in Aquatic Plants

Aquatic plants have floating leaves (e.g., water lilies) for sunlight, flexible stems to move with currents, and air spaces in tissues for flotation and gas exchange.

Adaptations of Plants in Polar Regions

Polar plants stay close to the ground to avoid wind, have dark pigmentation to absorb sunlight, and produce antifreeze compounds to survive freezing temperatures.

Adaptations of Plants Against Herbivory

Plants deter herbivores with thorns and spines, toxic chemicals (like in foxglove), and tough, waxy leaves that are hard to chew and digest.

Types of Habitats

The different types of habitats are:

Terrestrial Habitats

Terrestrial biomes are major geographical units of the earth’s surface depicting specific climatic conditions, and plant, and animal distribution. Major biomes include:

• Forests: Most of the areas had high densities of shrubs and trees that favour certain climatic conditions.

• Deserts: Deserts that had limited vegetation to cope with the availability of water along with features such as volatile temperatures and special types of plants and animals for example cacti and camel respectively.

• Grasslands: Grassy and herbaceous lands that occur in the tropical and temperate regions of the world. Grasslands sustain grazing wildlife and avian species that feed on plants depending on the availability of the rains.

Aquatic Habitats

• Aquatic habitats: include freshwater and marine environments, each with unique characteristics and organisms adapted to aquatic life:

• Freshwater Habitats: Low saline waters: This may include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams and any other water bodies which have low saline concentrations. That is because they accommodate a wide range of aquatic plants, fish, amphibians, as well as invertebrates that are suitable for different water flow and oxygen concentrations.

• Marine Habitats: Areas with high salinity like oceans, seas, and estuaries. Marine ecosystems may be categorized into different zones that stretch from the shallow interfaces of the sea, which is also known as the coastal zone, down to the abyssal zone of the ocean depths. Marine plants include fish, marine mammals, coral polyps, and phytoplankton that thrive in saline water and ocean currents.

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