2. NATURAL VEGETATION
Vegetation is assemblages of plant species and the ground cover they provide.[2] It is a general term,
without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific
botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader than the termflora which refers to species
composition. Perhaps the closest synonym is plant community, but vegetation can, and often does,
refer to a wider range of spatial scales than that term does, including scales as large as the global.
Primeval redwood forests, coastal mangrove stands, sphagnum bogs, desert soil crusts, roadside weed
patches, wheat fields, cultivated gardens and lawns; all are encompassed by the term vegetation.
4. WILDLIFE
Wildlife traditionally refers to non-domesticated animal species, but has come to include all plants, fungi, and
other organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans.[1]
Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, forests, rain forests, plains, grasslands, and other areas
including the most developed urban sites, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular
culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors,[2] most scientists agree that much
wildlife is affected by human activities.
6. ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air,
water and mineral soil), interacting as a system.[2] These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient
cycles and energy flows.[3] The relationship between the abiotic components and the biotic components of the ecosystem is termed
'holocoenosis'. As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their
environment,[4] they can be of any size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces[5] (although some scientists say that the entire
planet is an ecosystem).[6]
Energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic components of an ecosystem. The energy that flows through
ecosystems is obtained primarily from the sun. It generally enters the system through photosynthesis, a process that also
captures carbonfrom the atmosphere. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of
matter and energy through the system.
7. BIOME
Biomes are verylarge ecological areason the earth's surface, with fauna and flora
(animals and plants)adapting to their environment. Biomesare oftendefinedby abiotic
factors suchas climate, relief, geology, soils and vegetation. A biome is NOT an
ecosystem, although in a way it can look like a massive ecosystem.
8. TYPES OF VEGETATION
The vegetation type is defined by characteristic dominant species, or a common aspect of the assemblage, such as
an elevation range or environmental commonality.[3] Earth cover is the expression used by ecologist Frederic
Clements that has its closest modern equivalent being vegetation. The expression continues to be used by
the Bureau of Land Management.
9. TROPICALEVERGREENFORESTS
An evergreen forest is a forest consisting entirely or mainly
of evergreen trees that retain green foliage all year round.
Such forests reign in the equatorial region, between the
tropics primarily as broadleaf evergreens, and in temperate
and boreal latitudes primarily as coniferous evergreens.
10. TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FORESTS
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity"[1] or "tending to fall off",[2] and it is typically used in order to
refer to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally (most commonly during autumn) and to the
shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering orfruit when ripe. In a more general
sense, deciduous means "the dropping of a part that is no longer needed" or "falling away after its purpose
is finished". In plants it is the result of natural processes. "Deciduous" has a similar meaning when referring
to animal parts, such as deciduous antlers in deer[3] or deciduous teeth, also known as baby teeth, in some
mammals (including humans).
11. TROPICAL THORN AND SCRUBS FORESTS
A thorn forest is a dense, scrublike vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and
warm temperate areas with a seasonal rainfall averaging 250 to 500 mm (9.8 to 19.7 in).
This vegetation covers a large part of southwestern North America and southwestern Africa
and smaller areas in Africa, South America, and Australia. In South America, thorn forest is
sometimes called Caatinga, and consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their
leaves seasonally. Trees typically do not exceed 10 metres (33 ft) in height, usually averaging
between 7 and 8 metres (23 and 26 ft) tall. Thorn forest grades into savanna woodland as
the rainfall increases and into desert as the climate becomes drier.[1]
12. TROPICAL MONTANE FORESTS
Montane ecology is thebranchof ecology that studies life systems on mountains or other
highelevation regions on the Earth. The ecosystems on mountains are strongly affected by
climate, which getscolder as elevationincreases
13. MANGROVE FORESTS
Mangroves are various large and extensive types of trees up to medium height
and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in
the tropics and subtropics—mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S. The
remaining mangrove forest areas of the world in 2000 was 53,190 square
miles (137,760 km²) spanning 118 countries and territories.[1][2]