ANY FIVE MICRO HABITATS AND MENTION THE PLACE WHERE THEY RESIDE.
Answers
Answer:
Microhabitats
People often think of habitats on a relatively large scale - deserts, coniferous forests, sclerophyll forests, grasslands, bogs, alpine peaks and so on. Such broad habitats are important when talking about lichens but it is equally important to look at a smaller scale at the same time. To a lichen a shift of as little as a centimetre may mean a shift to dramatically different conditions where, perhaps, survival is not possible. If a shift of a few centimetres means a shift to a different set of conditions, that also means a shift to a different micro-habitat. When looking for lichens in the field it is important to be aware of micro-habitats and realize that sometimes, while taking just a few paces, you may have crossed a dozen different micro-habitats. The aim of this page is to point out a variety of microhabitats but as you walk around in town or country you should be able to spot many more for yourself.
Consider the boulders shown in this photo
. Such boulders are fairly common in many farm paddocks and natural grasslands and, almost invariably, you'll see a mix of lichens and bryophytes growing on them. The lichens growing on these boulders are different to the lichens growing on the surrounding soil. From a lichen perspective the boulder differs from the surrounding soil. It has a different texture and a different chemistry. Whereas the grasses (and occasional shrubs) of the surrounding area give some shade to the soil, the boulders have no shading grasses or shrubs. The soil soaks up water, the boulders don't. Each boulder is an example of a micro-habitat since it is quite different to the surrounding area. The boulders also heat up more quickly than the surrounding soil and hold that heat longer. The photo shows a scene in Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory. For at least a part of each winter the grassy area will be under snow and at many other times of the year there will be morning frost in this valley. The larger boulders, at least, will either be above the ground level cold air layer or they would warm up before the soil does. That means that any overnight frost on the boulders will be thawed into water that can be used by the boulder lichens while the soil lichens are still frozen and dormant. When it rains some of the rain falling on a boulder will be absorbed by the lichens or bryophytes on it but often there will also be some runoff. The soil around a boulder will be moister than that further away since the area near the boulder receives direct rainfall as well as runoff. During heavy rain the additional water from runoff will not make a great difference but during light rain (or fog) the runoff can make a large difference, even dominating the direct rainfall in the immediate vicinity of the boulder. That is especially so when boulders are large and very broad in relation to height. That shape provides a large 'catchment' area and the potential for substantial runoff. In arid, low-rainfall areas you will often see richer lichen growths in the microhabitats immediately around the bases of such boulders. Of course, around a boulder that's taller than broad the ground on different sides gets different levels of shading during sunny days, creating yet further soil microhabitat.
It shows a largely bare area of ground, mostly soil with a few pebbles. There are a few Xanthoparmelia thalli with the largest, in the lower left, being about two centimetres in diameter. All these thalli were growing on pebbles and in most cases it's easy to see this if you look closely, because the pebbles are generally only partially covered. The largest thallus has completely covered its pebble substrate so it would be understandable, at first glance, to think that thallus was growing on soil - as do the thalli of some Xanthoparmelia species. However, in this case the pebbles constitute a microhabitat distinct from the surrounding soil and one that is host to a rock-loving Xanthoparmelia species.
Explanation:
plz follow me
plz mark me brainleast