A habitat is where organisms live, shelter and feed. Habitats range from deserts to rainforests to the polar regions and could be on land or in water. Habitats at Sydney Olympic Park include freshwater and estuarine wetlands, forests, mangroves, and grassland, each with its own unique set of characteristics that support different communities of plants and animals.
Microhabitats
Within each habitat are smaller parts with different and unique properties that offer more benefits such as food, water and shelter that can improve an organism's survival. These areas are called microhabitats, and there's nothing micro about their importance!
A microhabitat could be rocks, leaf litter, logs, bark, tree roots or cavities, a pool of water, or even a decomposing plant or animal. Tree cavities may offer a cooler environment that protects the animal from heat; a pile of logs can offer reptiles refuge from predators and help them maintain optimal body temperature, and leaf litter is an important food for worms, snails and fungi, and a place for moth caterpillars to transform into pupae before emerging as adult moths.
Who uses microhabitats?
Many species use multiple microhabitats for different life stages and purposes. For example, the endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog live in freshwater wetlands. The tadpoles grow in still and shallow water, while the adults shelter in low vegetation, under rocks and other debris, forage in grassy areas, bask on reeds to raise their body temperature, and call for a mate in ponds.
