Habitats and Communities

All living things are known as "organisms".

Examples of organisms include a balsam plant, a rain tree, an elephant and an ant. A population is a group of organisms of the same kind that lives together and reproduces in a particular place.

A population includes organisms at different life stages. For example, a population of mosquitoes include wrigglers, pupas and adult mosquitoes.
A population of chickens would include roosters (male chicken), hens (female chicken) and chicks (young

chickens).

Mosquito Population

A habitat is a place where a population of organisms can find

everything it needs to live and reproduce.

Examples of habitats include a pond, a garden and a seashore. The living conditions in different habitats vary. Thus, the types of organisms found in different habitats are also different.

A community consists of several populations living together in a habitat. Examples of communities include a pond community, field community, rotting log or leaf litter community and a single
plant community.

A visitor to the community is an organism that does not live in the community and is not usually found there. The water in a pond is considered "freshwater" as it contains less salt than sea water. Sea water is considered "salt water". Freshwater organisms cannot survive in sea water and vice versa. A pond community consists of floating, submerged and partially submerged plants which provide food and shelter to the aquatic animals.
Floating plants include the water hyacinth, water lettuce, water moss fern and duckweed. Partially submerged plants have their roots anchored at

a) Pond Community

the bottom of the pond, but also have parts of the plant growing above the water. Examples include the arrowhead, lotus and cattail.
Fully submerged plants grow fully under water. They include the hydrilla, fanwort and elodea.

The animals in a pond community may live on the surface of the water, in the water or at the bottom of the pond. The water boatman, pond skater, mayfly and wolf spider live on the surface of the pond. Tadpoles, freshwater fishes like guppies, and snails live in
the water.

Tubiflex worms, damselfly larvae and midge larvae (commonly known as "bloodworms") are usually found at
the bottom of the pond.

Field Community A field is open, airy and covers a wide area. The plants which are commonly found in a field include the love grass. lallang, mimosa, carpet grass and goose grass. Common animals found in a field include the grasshopper, ant. snail, earthworm, butterfly and sparrow. Earthworms help to mix the soil as they burrow through it. This oosens the soil and makes it easier for the roots of plants to g row.

Rotting Log / Leaf Litter Community A rotting log or leaf litter community is usually damp and made up of decomposing logs or leaves.

Fungi, earthworms, millipedes, woodlice (singular: woodlouse)

and snails feed on the decaying log or leaf litter, while ants feed on the fungi.
Spiders feed on the ants.

d) Single Plant Community A single plant may also be a habitat for a community of animals and it provides shelter and food for them. Some animals living on the plant may include caterpillars, ants, slugs and snails. A plant that bears fruit will also attract birds, bees and fruit bats.

Characteristics of the Environment

such

The

characteristics of a habitat refer to living conditions

as the temperature, amount of air, light, food and water, type of

soil, presence of predators and presence of diseasecausing organisms. The characteristics of different habitats are different. The living conditions in a habitat must be suitable for an organism before it can live there. The organisms in a community are interdependent on each ot her.

For example, the plant provides shelter and food for insects and it also depends on insects to pollinate its flowers. Some animals depend on other animals for food.

Changes to one population in a community would thus affect the other populations as well. Any changes to the characteristics of the habitat will also affect the survival of the populations living in it. If the organisms are unable to adapt to the changes, they will move to other places or die.