what is flora and fauna?
what is difference between genus and species?
Ans in eazy language.
No googled answer will be accepted.
Answers
✯What is Flora And Fauna
☆Flora Meaning
The term flora in Latin means “Goddess of the Flower.” Flora is a collective term for a group of plant life found in a particular region. The whole plant kingdom is represented by this name.
☆Fauna Meaning
Fauna represents the animal life indigenous to a region. There are many explanations regarding the origin of the word. As per Roman mythology, Fauna or “Faunus” is the name of the goddess of fertility. Another source is “Fauns” which means “Forest spirits.“
✯Importance of Flora and Fauna
The flora and fauna are important for the following reasons:
☆Maintains Ecological Balance
- Flora and fauna are very important for human existence. The flora liberates oxygen that is consumed by the fauna for respiratory activities. Fauna, in turn, liberates carbon dioxide consumed by the flora for photosynthesis.
- Flora and fauna hugely benefit mankind through its medicinal and food offerings. Animals maintain the equilibrium by predating on different plants and animals to balance their population on earth.
- Animal droppings are a source of fertilizer. The dead animals decay and act as supplement minerals for other animals.
☆Aesthetic Value
- The flora and fauna spread across the earth contribute to the aesthetic value of the earth. People visit several biosphere reserves, national parks and zoos, forests, botanical gardens etc. to enjoy the beauty of landmarks. This explains the significance of flora and fauna in our day to day lives.
☆Expansion of Local Economies
- Flora and Fauna contribute to the local economies through tourism. The flora and fauna of Amazon forests attract tourists and scientists which contributes to about 50 million dollars to the Brazilian economy.
- Caribbean, Indonesia, Panama are other tourist locations that attract millions of people due to its widespread flora and fauna.
✯Flora and Fauna of India
- The flora and fauna in India are diverse with a variety of plants and animal varieties. The popular fauna of India includes 500 different varieties of mammals, 2000 species of birds, 30.000 types of insects and several varieties of fish, amphibians, and reptiles. Elephants, Royal Bengal Tiger, rhinos, bison, lions are some common fauna found in the country.
- India also contains a variety of flora that includes the Alpines, temperate forests, deciduous forests, evergreen forests, oaks, rhododendrons, pine, spruce, deodar, laurels, maples, bamboos and tall grasses.
✯Difference Between Genus and Species
☆Definition
- Genus: A genus is a principle taxonomic classification, which ranks below family and above species.
- Species: A species is a closely related group of organisms, which comprise similar characteristics and interbreed to produce a fertile offspring.
☆Level of Ranking
- Genus: Genus is a higher classification than species.
- Species: Species is the most fundamental level of the classification of organisms.
☆Composition
- Genus: A genus is composed of different species.
- Species: Species is composed of different subspecies.
☆Number of Organisms
- Genus: A genus consists of a large number of organisms.
- Species: Species consists of a fewer number of organisms.
☆In Binomial Nomenclature
- Genus: Genus is the first part of the binomial name of a particular organism.
- Species: Species is the second part of the binomial name.
✯What is a Genus
A genus refers to a principle taxonomic classification, which ranks below family and above species. It consists of a collection of different species with similar characteristics. In binomial nomenclature, the name of the genus comes first, and it is followed by the name of the species. For example, the scientific name of the modern human is Homo sapiens sapiens. Homo is the genus of humans whereas sapiens sapiens is the species name.
✯Classification
Three criteria are used to define a genus.
- Monophyly – All descendants of a particular ancestral taxon are ranked together.
- Reasonable compactness – The characteristics of the descendants should not be expanded too much.
- Distinctness – Similar DNA sequences, biogeographical features, ecological features and morphological features of the organisms can be used to rank them in a particular genus.
✯What is a Species
A species refers to a closely related group of organisms, which comprise similar characteristics and interbreed to produce a fertile offspring. It is considered as the fundamental unit of the classification of organisms. Some hybrid species are also fertile. In order to define a particular species, the similarities in the DNA sequences, morphological, and ecological features can be considered. Sometimes, a particular species may consist of different breeds with great variations.
✯Similarities Between Genus and Species
- Both genus and species are taxonomic rankings, which contain organisms with similar characteristics.
- Typically, organisms in different genera and species cannot interbreed with each other.
- Both genus and species names are used in the binomial nomenclature of organisms.