Any natural complex is heterogeneous in its internal structure. All its elements are at different levels, occupying certain niches. Ecology calls it layering. We will talk more about this phenomenon in the article.
Layering of biocenosis
All animals, plants, microorganisms and fungi that exist in a particular area in water or on land, in the aggregate, represent a biocenosis. It is a holistic and dynamic system that has a strict structure. One of the principles of organizing a biocenosis is layering. It manifests itself in the regular arrangement of the elements of nature vertically. In other words, this is the placement of all plants and organisms at certain levels.
Layering is the result of long evolutionary processes. Thanks to her, a large number of different creatures can live on one square meter. If they occupied one niche, they simply would not have enough space and food. Having dispersed at various heights and adapted to living on them, they were able to significantly increase their chances of survival and reduce competition among themselves.
The spatial layering is terrestrial and underground. In the first case, it includes all organisms that live on the earth and above its surface. In the second - the inhabitants of various depths of soil.
Layering of plants
In the plant community, each level represents a group of species that have approximately the same height of their organs: stems, leaves, flowers, as well as roots, tubers, rhizomes. Allocate about five tiers, which, as a rule, are formed by different life forms:
- Woody (sometimes divided into upper and lower).
- Shrubby.
- Shrub-grassy.
- Mossy Lichen.
Trees represent the highest level. In the forest, they win the fight for sunlight, receiving the bulk of it. Above all, birch, oak, beech, hornbeam, pine and spruce, as well as redwoods, cedars, palm trees. Shrubs and dwarf trees are located below, forming the undergrowth. They are represented by nuts, mountain ash, apple trees, etc.
The next level is occupied by herbaceous plants and low shrubs. There can be various berry species, medicinal herbs and flowers. In our forests, this tier is represented by lilies of the valley, crocuses, St. John's wort, lingonberries, blueberries and other species. Under them, as a rule, are a variety of mosses and lichens.
Outside the forest, in open areas, many species of undergrowth can occupy the highest levels, since they do not experience competition from other trees. In deserts and tundra, the highest tier is often represented by shrubs and grasses, sometimes only mosses and lichens.
Animal world
In the animal kingdom, layering does not concern the growth of organisms, but the heights at which they live. Usually emit:
- Geobia.
- Herpetobia.
- Bryobia
- Phylobia.
- Aerobia
Geobias are all inhabitants of soils. These include very small animals like worms, wood lice and microorganisms, as well as large earth-moving species - mole rats, moles, zocors, ground squirrels, jerboas.
The upper layers of the soil and forest litter are inhabited by herpetobia, and mosses by bryobia, and snails, beetles, ticks, and legless amphibians can belong to both .
Phyllobias are inhabitants of grasses and shrubs. They are represented by all kinds of invertebrates, arachnids, reptiles, various mammals and birds that nest in the thickets.
The highest tiers inhabit aerobia. These include many birds, squirrels, bats, monkeys, various caterpillars and other insects.
Layering refers not only to land, it manifests itself in the aquatic environment. Marine and river organisms are divided into surface (plankton), pelagic (salmon, sharks, dolphins, jellyfish), bottom or benthos (mussels, crayfish, crabs, stingrays, flounders).
Classification Issues
Layering is a very relative concept. It manifests itself in different ways, depending on the terrain. For example, in moist equatorial forests there are a huge number of species of organisms, so it can be quite difficult to differentiate them into levels.
The easiest way to do this is in forests that are created by one kind of tree. Particularly well layered in oak forests, cedar and birch groves, spruce forests, pine forests. But in the meadows, everything is not so clear. There grasses and mosses can create additional levels, the boundaries between which are also not too noticeable.
In addition, there is the concept of “extra-tier”, thanks to plants that cannot be ranked at any level. These are vines, epiphytes and parasites. The first grow in absolutely any direction, and their height depends on the support, which will be nearby. If there is a tree nearby, the liana can reach a high tier, if there is no support at all, then it will creep along the ground, being at the lowest level. A similar situation occurs with epiphytes and parasites that live on other plants and are located at different heights.