AIR-GROUND ENVIRONMENTS: TYPES, FAUNA AND FLORA - ENVIRONMENT - 2024

The rooms air - ground are those sites that have the capacity to house animals that can develop and unfold both on land and in the air. An example of this type of animal is hawks or eagles.

However, the term also refers to any environment where the earth has more predominance (while at the same time there is a close relationship with the air) and to the living beings that can develop in that place.

Types of air-ground environments

It is important to mention that there are different types of air-ground environments, which are grouped according to the similarity that exists between each of their physical conditions. They are the arid zones, the polar zones and the jungle zones.

The deserts

The main characteristics of this air-ground environment is that it is generally surrounded by a lot of sand. Deserts are areas with little rain and little amount of water in their soils. During the day the temperatures are quite high, however, at night they drop. Sand in soils also causes the little water in them to run off easily.

The living organisms that must inhabit these areas have to have certain physical characteristics in order to survive in this type of environment. In the deserts you can find cacti and animals such as lizards, insects, small rodents, and some birds, such as the Andean condor.

Generally, animals that live in deserts, such as rodents, tend to protect themselves from the sun by hiding in underground burrows. The reptiles and insects on their bodies have waterproof covers, and there they keep water. Cacti protect and survive thanks to their thorns.

The main plants that have emerged in these environments have an impermeable layer that reduces perspiration and thus any type of unnecessary water leakage, in addition, they have shallow roots, but with a greater horizontal extension and thick stems.

In this way they can better absorb water when there is a storm, something that, by the way, almost never happens.

The Artic

In this environment, unlike the desert, it is practically a long and perennial winter. Snow usually falls, there is little rain and the winds are constant and very strong.

The summers are short, but cool, and can reach a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius at most, when the rest of the year the temperature is always below zero degrees.

The soils in the Arctic are obviously very cold, but they are also swampy, and prevent the development of any plants. It is for this reason that there is practically no plant life at the various poles of the earth.

Existing plants do not exceed ten centimeters and an example of this is small mosses and lichens. On the other hand, the animals that live in the Arctic are hares, reindeer, penguins and polar bears. All of these mammals naturally regulate their blood flow to avoid freezing.

During these small summers, different insects appear that later serve as food for migratory birds.

The jungles

Jungle environments are very different from the two mentioned above. As in the day, there are very high temperatures, however, at night the temperatures do not drop so drastically.

However, there is a lot of humidity in the environment and frequent rains often arise. For this reason, the soils in this environment are always humid, which contributes to the proliferation of fungi.

Besides this, the soils are more fertile and different types of plants abound. There are trees, shrubs, grasses, ferns, and different types of mosses.

In the jungles you can find different animals such as squirrels, monkeys, crested eagles, toucans and a great variety of insects. Practically, most of these animals live in the treetops or on the trunks.

The trees tend to be very tall, measuring between 50 and 60 meters, their trunks are thin and their branches are mostly in the crown.

In areas where there is little plant development, there is usually semi-darkness. But, in those parts where there are very tall trees, the leaves and branches make up a continuous and thick foliage that allows the light to pass through the leaves.

Although the light is not that intense, there is good clarity in the jungle, but the ground remains wet at all times. Thanks to this, worms, slugs, snails and different microorganisms abound.

Bushes and ferns that grow at ground level usually have dark green leaves, since they can make the most of the sunlight.

All the plants that grow in this jungle environment are fixed on branches and trunks. Its natural behavior is to absorb water through the roots (which are usually quite deep, rather than wide) and roots, and accumulate them throughout its trunk and body.

Types of plants according to the air-ground environments

Plants are divided by their level of dependence for survival on water.

Hygrophilous plants are the ones that mostly exist in jungle environments, since they need to be in very humid soils.

Mesophytic plants need to live in cool environments, where water is abundant, but they can withstand periods of drought, although not very long. They have medium-sized leaves and their roots are not very developed.

And finally, xerophytic plants are the ones that predominate in deserts because they can survive such environments. They are characterized by having extensive roots with absorbent hairs, as well as a very thick waterproof cover.

References

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