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Habitat is where a creature lives.
Your habitat is probably a house or an apartment. Trees, plants, rocks, soil, and water are habitats for many animals. Habitat loss may result when trees and other plants in an area are cleared away so cities, homes, roads, and highways can be built. Clear-cutting forests to sell the lumber or farm the land also destroys habitats. Drought and other effects of climate change add to the plight of animals. When plants and animals lose their habitats, they may become endangered or extinct. A plant or animal is said to be endangered if it is statistically shown to be close to becoming extinct (dying out entirely).
Rain Forests
Logging, farming, grazing, and mining are destroying rain forests at an alarming rate. Every second, a football-field-size section of rain forest is cut down. Every year, an area twice the size of Florida is destroyed. At this rate, in 50 years, there will be no rain forests left on Earth! ▼
◀ Today, people from groups such as the Rainforest Alliance are working with farmers, loggers, and people in other businesses to find ways of using the resources of the rain forest that don’t destroy it.
▲ With fewer than an estimated 20 South China tigers left in the wild, and just 50 in captivity, the breed is almost extinct. They could soon join the three species of tigers that are already extinct. In just over a century, 97 percent of all tiger species have been lost to poaching and habitat destruction.
▶ Polar bears struggle to survive in their changing environment, but a small rodent has already lost the battle. The mosaic-tailed rat lived on a low-lying island off the northern coast of Australia. In February 2019, it became the first mammal officially listed as extinct due to human-produced climate change. Global warming causes sea levels to rise. As a result, the tiny island where the rodents lived floods over and over again. The flooding destroyed the rodents’ habitat, so they couldn’t survive.
◀ This fish lives off California’s coast, in the ocean. It swims up freshwater streams to mate. The steelhead trout is endangered. Why? People are putting so much sediment into the rivers and taking so much water out of the streams for farming, homes, and businesses that the rivers and streams are drying up. In addition, dams on the rivers control flooding and erosion, which is good for people, but the dams block the fish from swimming to places where they mate.
▲ Only about 100 Florida panthers remain in the wild. These animals live in hardwood and pine forests, and also on prairies and in marshes. With more and more people moving to Florida and nearby states, the Florida panther has lost much of its habitat. Habitat loss causes endangerment. Luckily, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge has been helping the panthers rebound.
Your Part
Here are some things you can do to help plants and wildlife.
▲ Pet waste has bacteria that can threaten fish and wildlife. Clean up after your dog so its waste can’t drain into lakes, river, and streams during a rainstorm.
▲ Do not disturb the natural habitat of plants and animals. Do not pick wildflowers or gather critters for pets.
▲ Talk to people at home or to your teacher about planting a garden to attract butterflies, birds, and bees. These gardens provide habitats to replace those taken away by buildings, streets, and parking lots.
