An area is an area on the surface of the earth or water that is occupied by one or another type of plant, animal, or fish. There is even a science that studies the laws of the appearance, development, and existence of ranges — areology. The influence of man on his own planet is such that we can intentionally or accidentally push, destroy, and sometimes create an area for a certain type of creature.
Range Form
When studying this or that species, scientists draw contour lines on the map with their habitat. This is necessary to study and understand how and how the species lives. It is impossible to find two identical forms of ranges, except for such an exception, when several species are locked on the island.
The area is a drawing on a geographical map that indicates the boundaries of the species. It can be continuous, torn into several parts or tape, elongated along the banks of rivers, along the lowlands of the mountains. The ranges can be mixed, for example, some types of oak grow massively in central Russia, and in the south they stretch in line.
When a species is distributed over vast territories, several continents, it is called cosmopolitan. Typically, these species are unpretentious, survive in different climatic zones, multiply rapidly, and predators and humans cannot cut their population to zero.
As a result of climate change, the shape of the habitat may change. Temperature or humidity becomes unfavorable for this species, and it begins to die out. Such species are called relict; they have a very small residual range.
Very similar to relict endemic species that exist in a small but stable habitat.
Designation
In order to distinguish between themselves and find ranges on maps, he invented stock numbers. After all, if the area is a geographically famous place, then it has its own longitude and latitude. However, climatic conditions, important for any species of living creatures, depend on altitude. Therefore, the nomenclature number of the range consists of the latitudinal component — the extent of the zone from north to south, the longitudinal component — the extent of the zone from east to west, and the altitude component — vertically, from top to bottom.
Range Sizes
The area in biology is a zone of several square kilometers, on which this or that species of animal or plant lives. It can be part of land or water, occupying from a couple of kilometers to hundreds of hectares. Under one of the classifications, ranges are distinguished by their size from narrow-local to global.
The smallest and most modest of them are occupied by land animals. It can be a valley or, conversely, a mountain range, where due to climatic features and unique soil composition a certain type of hazel has developed and does not take root anywhere. A cave is also a good example of a narrow local area. Creatures living in such conditions are called endemic, such as ground beetles, which live only within one or two ridges of the Caucasus. Almost all types of flightless insects are endemic.
Local ranges go further in size, followed by subregional and regional ones. The polyregional range of a population is a territory stretched over several continents, but no more than three, an example of a species with such a settlement is a white partridge. Areas in Eurasia are also considered multi-regional. After all, species can exist throughout Europe, Siberia and the Far East. But usually such ranges are characteristic of aquatic species of animals, fish, plants.
The cosmopolitan area is a zone that occupies at least three continents. Some species of aquatic and bog plants, marine animals, and insects have gained such distribution.
Population Examples
The ranges of many animals and plants almost coincide. Remember, you probably know the type of animal that lives freely only in the steppes, tundra, swamps, sand. In his area, he knows what to eat, knows how to hide and breed. In the steppe, such species are hamsters, gophers, steppe cockroaches and others. Lapland plantain grows in the tundra, and the boreal owl lives and hunts in the taiga forest. The range may be elongated in shape, usually along rivers or mountain ranges. This is due to climatic characteristics. Many near-water animals live in such ranges, and freshwater fish have no choice but to live in a river.
Sometimes the boundary of the range appears due to the residence of a competing species outside its border. For example, sable and marten often live nearby, but do not enter the territory of a neighbor.
The reasons for the breakdown of habitats
The species range is not necessarily a continuous territory; gaps also occur. This happens for a variety of reasons. Nowadays, the main reason for the gap in habitats has become man. Deforestation, construction of dams, drainage of swamps, construction of hydroelectric power stations - all this leads to the extinction of species of animals, plants and insects.
It happens that there are no differences in climatic conditions, but the range is also a picture in memory, where the territorial border is marked, it is difficult to explain. Presumably in the past, climatic conditions varied, and the species was divided, retained in its memory that the dividing territory is fatal for him. The simplest example is that many types of plants, animals live on both sides of the Ural Mountains, but these species themselves are not on them. And for alpine chamois, on the contrary, lowering the height becomes a division territory. The same type of chamois is present on different mountains.
Resilience of habitat boundaries
Although borders are marked on the map, they can always change. Perhaps only island ranges are unchanged. All others change with changing climatic conditions. During cold winters and hard crust, roe deer begin to increase their crossings, go to new territories in search of food, otherwise they will die. Huntsmen feed them to keep in their area.
As a result of warming, the ice may melt and the once unified range will be broken. In this case, one of the species may weaken, not have time to adapt to new conditions, and it will be replaced by another. The finds of paleontologists only prove this development option. So the area is not a stable territorial zone, for which we must fight. Everything is like people have: “If you want to live, know how to spin!”