Flora and fauna: definition and meaning | green fall (2023)

200 million years ago the earth looked very different. There was only one supercontinent Pangea surrounded by a single ocean of Panthalassa.

Earth's lithosphere, the crust that has formed on top of the hot liquid core, is constantly breaking up into sections and moving. The lithosphere separated the landmasses into separate continents or connected them in places. These collisions caused mountains to erupt, landmasses to slide beneath one another, and sometimes seas to be trapped between landmasses.

Over time, the great land masses drifted apart so that today we have seven continents occupying different areas of the earth, each with its own climate and land characteristics. The continents are surrounded by five oceans. The land is not barren and monotonous. It is teeming with flora and fauna that have evolved differently on each continent and have produced the incredible diversity of life on earth.

Let's take a look at the exact meaning of flora and fauna and what it means to all of us.

the definition of flora

In Roman mythology, Flora was the goddess of flowers.

Botanists began using it in the 1600sThe term flora refers to all plantswithin a specific region[1].

What is native flora and why is native flora important?

Native flora is the plant life that grows naturally in a given region. It's indigenous, meaning it wasn't introduced by people from another region. It thrives there naturally.

Over the years, the native flora has evolved in conjunction with the other plants and animals in their region. Through evolution and adaptation, nature maintains a perfect balance to support the coexistence of healthy populations of native plants and animals in an area. Unfortunately, humans can unintentionally upset this balance.

A perfect example is the monarch butterfly and milkweed. Monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on certain milkweed plants. However, spurge is considered a weed and is routinely destroyed. If a monarch butterfly cannot find milkweed to lay its eggs, its lineage ends.

The important role of the native flora

Healthy native flora benefits the planet in many ways. Let's start with the most important.

#1 Oxygen production and carbon dioxide fixation

First, plants balance carbon dioxide and oxygen in the environment. We currently have an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In fact, it's the highlight.greenhouse gasesand the largest contributor to global warming.

Plants use the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide from the air into carbohydrates, which are needed for growth. In this process, called photosynthesis,Plants also produce oxygen.that we must breathe.

Trees are particularly good at storing carbon dioxide in their bodies for long periods of time.

#2 Source of food for an entire ecosystem

The native flora not only provides sustenance for humans, but also for the animals that inhabit the area and those that roam through it.

A native plant can be a direct food source. A deer, for example, grazes on the grass or on the leaves of the trees.

The native flora indirectly also provides food. For example, some insects rely on a plant for habitat to lay eggs. Larger insects, birds or small mammals feed on these insects or their eggs.

96 percent of land birds in North America depend on insects for their diet.[2]🇧🇷 Flora provides bird food by providing insects with a safe nursery. Various plants are great shelter for birds, keeping them safe and nourished. And the birds, in turn, help disperse the seeds of the plant, allowing more plants to grow and feeding other animals within the ecosystem.

#3 Housing and Resources

The native flora provides building materials for protection and warmth. Local animals, not only land animals but also fish and birds, also find refuge in plants and use nearby plant materials to build their nests and dwellings.

We also harvest trees and plant fiber for protection. We use plant fibers in clothing, to upholster our furniture and in blankets to keep us warm.

#4 Essential ecosystem services

native floraprovides essential services for the environmenthow to fertilize the soil and filter drinking water.

When plants die, their material falls to the ground. Dead plant parts become food for bacteria and fungi and decomposers that create fertile soil. Only fertile soil is able to filter water to a level suitable for consumption.

Some plants, like the bulrush, are excellent water purifiers.[3]🇧🇷 Cattails often grow naturally in swamps, where they remove phosphorus and nitrogen from the water and purify it. Historically, rural Americans used cattails for wastewater treatment.

#5 Erosion Control and Soil Protection

Much of the native flora performserosion protection🇧🇷 The roots of the plants hold the soil in place when rain or tides pull it away.

Mangroves are particularly effective at controlling erosion. Not only do they serve as a nursery and sanctuary for marine life, but their strong bundles of roots protect the interior from destructive seawater storms.

#6 medicine

We know that many plants contain healing compounds. indigenous peoples havetraditionally passed on their knowledge of the medicinal value of the autochthonous flora.

For real,40 percent of pharmaceuticalssold in the United States are derived from plants that people have used for healing for centuries[4].

#7 Support other living organisms

Native plants form a symbiotic relationship with their neighbors in many situations.

For example, soil bacteria can help a "nitrogen-fixing" plant extract nitrogen gas from the air and then convert it into a valuable nutrient that can be absorbed by the plant's roots.

A tree can emit chemicals to warn neighboring trees of nearby predators so they can mobilize their defenses, for example by injecting toxic substances into their leaves.[5].

Countless plants benefit from fungi, whose fine threads that twine around and penetrate plant roots help them extract nutrients and water from the soil. The photosynthesis of the plant in turn supplies the fungus with the coveted sugar.[6].

#8 Pollination

Native flowers attract pollinators. Pollination is necessary for the production of fruits and seeds to create more plants.

The native flora has unique characteristics that attract pollinators. Many flowers have evolved to support the local pollinators that visit them. A flower's shape, size and color attracts the right pollinators.

For example, the long nectar spurs of plants in the mint family protect their nectar from insects that would drink it, but make it available to birds with a long proboscis, such as hummingbirds. Beetles and other flightless pollinators need a flower with a landing pad so they can rest while they feed, and the plants that support them have them. The night blooms are usually white or pale with a strong scent to attract bats and moths.[7].

Symbiotic relationships within an ecosystem.

The architecture of the native flora's natural growth benefits their ecosystem. The plants grow naturally in a canopy to provide some much-needed shade or light to the undergrowth.

Plants that grow together are usually those whose roots differ in length or configuration. Its roots absorb nutrients from different parts of the soil to leave enough nutrients for others. Some plants may need completely different nutrients, so the relationship with other plants is not competitive.

The ecosystem architecture is site specific to benefit the ecology.

The amount of nutrients available to each plant determines the size of the population. And in a wayNature gets it rightthat support the right balance of life, both in terms of the amount of nutrients and the number of each species, to maintain a healthy and sustainable ecosystem.

Balanced populations of native species

When a region has a rich biodiversity of natural flora and fauna, insects, disease and animal stress are prevented from having too large an impact on the health of local people.

Virtually all creatures have natural enemies in their ecosystem to keep their population below harmful levels, whether those enemies are other animals, insects, or even a plant toxic to a predator.

The greater the biodiversity of native plants and animals in an area that has co-evolved over time, the more likely it is that biological control agents are part of a local community of organisms and thatPredator/Prey Balanceit is of course managed successfully.

When does flora become an invasive species?

Species that grow and spread rapidly and have the potential to adversely affect the ecosystem are referred to as "invasive species". An invasive species can be any living organism (plant, insect, amphibian, fish, fungus or bacterium) that disrupts the balance of the ecosystem to its detriment.[9].

An example of an invasive plant species introduced to the United States is theLamm vine🇧🇷 It is known as "the vine that ate the south". It was brought to the United States from Japan at a centennial exhibition in 1876 as an exotic plant that gardeners might desire.

Southern farmers thought it might be useful for controlling soil erosion. But it soon took over. It is a hardy vine that can grow a foot a day and will cover and smother trees. You can almost see it growing as it spreads over everything in its path, covering bushes and trees.

The kudzu vine can crawl into cracks in buildings and can be seen climbing utility poles and overloading power lines. It can be seen for miles along the freeways throughout much of the Southeast each summer, a dense blanket burying any foliage in its path.

Kudzu even covers and tears down old barns. Many communes are working to destroy or burn it, but kudzu wins the fight. And with climate change, it's now moving north[10].

How to deal with invasive flora?

Classical biological control of some invasive species has been successful, but it is a complicated task. It involves the deliberate introduction of exotic natural enemies into the area.

These programs, conducted by government agencies or university institutions, require careful consideration as to whether new predators will survive in the area at a manageable level that can be naturally sustained without causing an imbalance in the population of other species.

New enemies must be quarantined prior to introduction to ensure they are not carrying other alien species, and closely monitored to determine how well they are adapting to their new environment. If the new enemies don't survive, other biotypes or species can be introduced.

Various examples of flora on all continents.

Australia

Australia was isolated long after it completely separated from Antarctica some thirty million years ago. Therefore, it has a large number of unique species of flora and fauna.

In fact, 93% of Australia's species are endemic.[11].

It has between 18,000 and 24,000 species of endemic plants, including exquisite and delicate onesvascular, unusual aerophytes and spectacular wildflowers[12].

Here,Akazie picnantha, It is a small perennial plant with fragrant green flowers. Adopted as the national flower, it is so popular that the first day of spring is known as National Acacia Day and it is customary for people to carry a branch on that day.

Although Australia is known for its hot deserts, it is also home to oneForest tropical.Queensland's wet tropicsIt has been designated a World Heritage Site for its importance in providing an unprecedented record of ecological and evolutionary processes.

Botanists believe after finding a fossilized seedIdiospermum australienseknown locally asthe Dragon, has remained unchanged since dinosaurs roamed the earth. The tree is also known as the idiot fruit tree because its fist-sized seed is deadly poisonous and one would be an idiot to eat the fruit.

Antarctica

When Antarctica broke away from Gondwana two hundred million years ago and drifted toward the icy South Pole, few plants were able to adapt to climate change.

Lichens, algae, fungi and mosses find it easier to adapt because they do not absorb any nutrients through their roots. But two vascular plants thrive there:Antarctic Hair Grass, a grass so hardy it resists being trampled on by seals and penguins andantarctic pearlwortwhich can grow between rocks and even has small yellow flowers.

Asia

Covering 30% of the Earth's landmass, Asia is densely populated in many places and is driving many species to the brink of extinction. But due to its large extent, it also has some areas so remote from human civilization that the flora and fauna have survived practically intact.

Asia is very diverse. This continent has a mix of biomes. Southeast Asia has tropical rainforests. East Asia has temperate mixed forests. South Asia has tropical rainforests and dry forests. Central and western Asia have desert and steppe ecoregions, and taiga and tundra are found in northern Asia.

The biggest flower in the worlda raffle,Rafflesia arnoldii,native to Indonesia in Southeast Asia, can exceed over three feet in diameter and weigh 15 to 20 pounds. Rafflesia is a parasite. It clings to tree trunks for water and nutrients. It appears to be a flower with beautiful fleshy coral leaves that seem to sprout from the tree's bark, but it is also known as the corpse flower because of the smell of rotting flesh.

Africa

The Namib Desert in South Africa is one of the oldest and driest deserts in the world, averaging just 5mm of rain per year in the west and 85mm in the east.

Despite the drought, one of the oldest plants in the world thrives here, absorbing moisture from the fog that blows in from the Atlantic through its leaves several times a week.

ÖWelwitschia mirabilisIt is a low plant with colored cones, its shape depends on sex and only two long leaves that wrap around the root hairs to protect them from moisture loss. These two leaves continue to grow throughout their lives, which can last anywhere from 400 to 1,500 years, and it's understandable that the wind will tear them apart quite a bit.

Welwitschia leaves turn red when it is too hot to protect the plant from sun exposure. The leaves turn green when temperatures drop to allow the plant to photosynthesize. It is a special form of photosynthesis in which it only exchanges gases at night to protect itself from water loss during the day.

Welwitschia's resilience inspired the Namibian rugby team to adopt a name of their own.

America

More thanTwo-thirds of the plants on earth grow in tropical rainforests. [14].

The lush jungle of the Amazon rainforest, which covers nearly 40% of South America, is widely considered the most biodiverse region on earth.[fifteen], home to up to 80,000 plant species[sixteen].

The native plants had to adapt using some sophisticated strategies to survive due to the large number of insects that fed on them and poor soil due to the constant rains.

When we picture a tropical rainforest, we often think of the magnificent orchids and bromeliads perched high in the trees. those areEpiphyten🇧🇷 They have evolved the ability to live above the forest floor, capturing what little soil they can gather through wind and rain to develop a base of foliage and roots in the branches of trees. But even at high altitudes, a plant can be exposed to hungry insects.

Well, why not lock them up and use their corpses for food?

Yes, many beautiful plants likepitcher plantsThey are carnivores! There are more than 100 species of pitcher plants, all with colorful and fragrant, vase-shaped hanging cups that hold sweet nectar to lure an unsuspecting insect to its impossibly slippery rim, where all it can do is dip in the pitcher's sticky, acidic liquid. essentially the stomach of the plant[17].

Warm lips attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Öelevated psychotriais calledhot lipsbecause that's exactly what its red flowers look like. They grow in the rainforests of Central and South America. Its flowers are actually variegated leaves called bracts, but they look and act like flowers. Their main job is to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to drink their nectar, collect pollen and pollinate plants.[18].

It's a...giant pineapple?

In the Andean steppes of Peru and Bolivia, at 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, you might come across a very tall tree that makes you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland.

Ten meters (33 feet) high, theTitan Baum,puya raimondii,it looks just like a giant pineapple. How strange: the tree bears fruit when it is over a hundred years old[19]!

Europa

The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia is known for its rich biodiversity and value as a sanctuary for a significant number of marine species, but is less well known and also of significant valuethe Posidonia Oceanica meadows of Ibiza and Formentera.

The seagrass meadow native to the Mediterranean Sea (and part of Ibiza's World Heritage Site).the largest and longest living organism we know[20].

The Formentera meadow is fifteen kilometers long and between 80,000 and 200,000 years old.[21]🇧🇷 It is a sanctuary and breeding ground for most marine life. The prairie is an important carbon sink. It also stabilizes the seabed by dampening the sea's waves and swells, and is known as "the lungs of the Mediterranean" for the oxygen it supplies to coastal waters.

(Video) Cats Fighting on Laughter Mode 🤩😅 #cat #animals

The definition of fauna.

Faunarefers to all animal lifewithin a specific region.

The word "Fauna" is the poetic form ofFaun,a horned forest god of Roman and Greek mythology. The term was first used in the 18th century by the botanist Carl von Linnaeus as the title for a compendium of the animal world that accompanied his earlier popular studies of the flora.[22].

What is native fauna and why is native fauna important?

Native animals are animals that were born and raised in a specific area. This includes migratory animals that regularly visit a given area because they play an important role in its ecosystems.

Animals act likepredatorsprevent populations of other animals from becoming too numerous in an area. On the other hand insects and the variety ofplugAnimals make the food of predators. Predators would starve if they weren't.

herbivorescontrol vegetation growth and help maintain the ecological balance in a region.

decomposer: worms, flies and lice, among others, provide important recycling services. They digest decaying plants, animal waste, fungi and bacteria while releasing minerals and nutrients into the soil. These substances, in turn, are essential for native plants, which like to absorb them.[23].

Examples of fauna on all continents

Australian wildlife

the platypus, a native of Australia, was once considered a joke. The first preserved platypus body examined by European naturalists turned out to be a fake. They assumed the body was probably made by sewing together a duck, a beaver, and an otter.

The platypus is really unusual. It is one of five living species ofMonotrema– Mammals that lay eggs and can detect prey through their natural electricity. As harmless as this furry little aquatic animal appears with its large, rubbery, duck-like beak, a spur on its hind foot can produce a potent venom. This venom is being studied as a possible treatment for type 2 diabetes.[24].

Turn right!

wild SitticheThey are small but brightly colored Long-Tailed Nomad Parakeets native to Australia. With much of Australia being very dry where there is open water with up to a million feral parakeets at a time, go flat out. So how do they avoid the collision? You always turn right.

Antarctica

The life of the southernmost animal in the world is a bit stressful. The Eastern Arctic Plateau regularly reaches minus 89 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 128.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on winter nights.

Surprisingly, it's not so much the biting cold air that bothersor the Weddell seal🇧🇷 Although it's not uncommon for newborn chicks to freeze to death before their mother can feed them again.

The biggest problem is the need to find an opening in the ice to get some fresh air or to pull yourself out of the water after returning from your fishing expeditions. But the danger doesn't end there. Once you're secure on the ice pack, you can also shatter the seal and drop it onto a small block of ice that an orca can easily knock over, causing dinner to slide straight into its gaping maw.

Africa

water magnets

The only reliable moisture in the Namib Desert is fog from the ocean. a little black beetle,aStenocara gracilipes,he has adapted the ability to absorb moisture through waxy bumps on his body.

To fetch water, the beetle climbs a dune and stands upside down. So he leans against the wind and raises his wing scales with small flaps in the fog. The bumps easily attract moisture and the beetle will drip it into its mouth.[25].

the Serengeti

There are few places left in the world where migratory animals remain in complete control of their natural migratory range. The Serengeti ecosystem is one of them.

The Serengeti ecosystem includesthere Serengeti National ParkThat's 1.5 million hectares of savannah in Tanzania, world famous for the migration of 1.5 million wildebeest and 250,000 zebras. The park is also known for its lions, leopards, Nile crocodiles and honey badgers.

The Serengeti has 540 bird species. Many of these endemic species are found nowhere else but in the Serengeti.

The neighborNgorongoro Conservation AreaIt is home to rhino, gazelle, wildebeest, zebra, African buffalo, lion, hippo, blue monkey, spotted hyena and the distinctive silver-cheeked hornbill, among many other species.

The Serengeti ecosystem also includes theMasai Mara Nationalreservatborder with Kenya. It is home to the African leopard, cheetah and wild elephant.

The Great Migration also traverses the hills and grasslands of the National Reserve, taking advantage of the two rivers that flow through it: the Mara and the Talek.

America

Midsummer Night's Dream

prairie dogsThey probably sleep in their burrows with the boys in the nursery. There may be a scout on duty near the tunnel entrance that you can quickly climb on to warn him of the danger.

Prairie dogs are herbivorous, burrowing rodents native to the North American prairies. You are a ground squirrel. An adult weighs about a kilogram and stands just over a foot tall on its hind legs. They look completely human as they stand up and scan the surrounding terrain for danger.

Enjoy the moment!

that screamit's not a deer or an antelope, but it looks like them. It is a species of its own and is often cited as the second fastest animal on earth after the cheetah. In fact, it is the fastest animal on earth, being able to run faster and longer than cheetahs.

endureAmericans drink, can be found in North America and are uniquely American, dating back twenty million years.[26]!

Anyone there?

Iguazu Falls, near the Brazil-Argentina border, is a mighty waterfall with copious amounts of water cascading down a sheer, horseshoe-shaped cliff 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) in length in 275 individual cascades. The waterfall is not only an impressive sight, but also thelarge dark swiftsThat bar behind the fall protection is just as great. These birds fly daily over the violent falls.

Coming out from behind the falls is bad enough, but parents need to hit just the right spot to reach their hungry cubs.

And the chicks... Imagine seeing nothing in the world but the rushing water in front of you and making that first flight through the water at just the right speed to get past it and at just the right angle to not to break the neck.

the amazon

The Amazon is one of the last refuges on earth for many animals that can only be found there.

To name a few:

• The Pink Button;
• the giant armadillowhich grows up to five feet long and can weigh 120 pounds;
• the giant otterwhich can also grow five feet long plus three feet of tail;
• American style door, a mammal that can grow to 6.5 feet in length and weigh up to 550 pounds[27];
• The red-backed bearded sake monkey;
• The white-cheeked spider monkey.

We must not forget about many colorful and intelligent birdsthe fire-bellied parakeet🇧🇷 as long as there isThe Amazon is home to many endangered and endangered species, the jungle is so dense that we don't know much yet.

New animals are constantly being discovered. Between 2010 and 2013, 441 new animal and plant species were discovered, including a flame-patterned lizard, a vegetarian piranha and a monkey that purrs like a cat.[28].

Asia

snow leopard,Panthera uncia,is a big cat that evolved to live in the highest mountains in the harshest conditions on earth.

Snow leopards are 150 cm long with a tail that can be extended an additional 90 cm and can weigh from 30 to 54 kg. Powerful and graceful, this beautiful cat easily climbs steep slopes. Its hind legs are particularly strong and can jump six times its body length. The snow leopard has a light gray coat speckled with black rosettes that blends so perfectly with the rugged, snowy landscape of the high mountains that at first glance it looks more like a mystical apparition than snowy in front of the snowy cliffs. mighty cat

Snow leopards are critically endangered for a number of reasons. Shepherds who protect their domestic animals have killed them. Poachers hunt them for their beautiful fur. They were also killed for their body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

They need a long range to travel, males needing 80 square miles (200 square kilometers), and their range is disappearing as humans spread. And much of their mammalian food died out for the same reason. There are concerns that global warming will further reduce their habitat and encourage competition for mountain sheep and goats with other large mammals that roam alpine habitat: wild dogs, leopards and tigers.

On a positive note, some countries now offer protection from the snow leopard. Snow leopards are found in the Himalayas and mountains of southern Siberia, as well as the Tibetan Plateau and a range that stretches from China to the mountains of Central Asia. The protection provided by Kyrgyzstan has been a lifeline as it is a corridor for snow leopards traveling between the northern and southern ends of its territory.[29].

Europa

adultmayflieslive in many places around the world. In fact, there are more than 3,000 species, but none live longer than 24 hours. The mayfly emerges into the air and mates. If it's female, it lays its eggs and dies in half an hour.

They are delicate looking insects with one or two pairs of translucent triangular wings, flexible antennae, large compound eyes, and non-functioning mouthparts as they do not live long enough to tend to food, and both males and females have two genitalia.

They sometimes live for years as nymphs in the water and molt. Most adult mayflies are 0.6 to 2.8 cm (0.2 to 1 in) in size, but mayflies that flock to celebrate over the Tisza River in Hungary are 8 to 12 cm (3 to 5 in) long.

They all fly off the Tisza at the same time! What a spectacular sight of millions and millions of flies dancing, mating and dying within hours.

How important are flora and fauna to life on earth?

Flora and fauna together are crucial for a healthy biosphere. They need each other. This is important to understand as we are witnessing the rapid extinction of both. The extinction of fauna is more visible to us and is often considered without considering the impact on flora.

It has already been mentioned that insects need plants to survive and birds need insects to survive. Look at the other side of that scale for a moment: Birds eat between 400 and 500 million tons of insects a year. Without birds, insects would decimate the world's flora[30].

In general, neither flora nor fauna can survive outside of their region without creating an imbalance that leaves their native populations vulnerable and threatened with extinction.

The native flora, like the fauna, is an integral part of the web of life that sustains us. The air we breathe and the water we drink depend on an ecosystem teeming with life.

Conservation efforts around the world

The United Nations Environment Program sets the global agenda of strategies to defend a healthy biosphere, coordinates conventions and protocols to protect biodiversity of flora and fauna, and the environmental dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals.

One of these conventions isConvention on Biological Diversitydedicated to sustainable development and signed by 150 heads of government at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Another is CITES,the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which regulates and ensures legal and illegal tradeTrade in wild animalsIt does not threaten the survival of the species.

Other important agreements are:

• the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention),
• the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which includes the conservation of living resources and consideration for the protection and preservation of the marine environment,
• the World Heritage Convention,
• the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) to protect plants from pests and diseases,
• the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) sharing scientific evidence.

Major international organizations dealing with wildlife conservation issues include:

• Fauna and Flora International
• International preservation
• world conservation
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• die E. O. Wilson Foundation for Biodiversity
• International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
• Society for Conservation Biology
• der World Wide Fund for Nature
• natural reserve
• Birdlife International
• Wetlands International
• a rainforest alliance
• die Xerces Society for the Conservation of Invertebraten

Most of these non-governmental organizations sponsor projects that represent a collaboration with governments, businesses and local community members, bringing together the necessary stakeholders to ensure the success of your initiative.