▷ The Biotope 【Definition, environmental factors and types】

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Biotope concept

Biotope components

Environmental factors

Types of biotopes

Climatic regions of Mediterranean biotopes

Types of aquariums

From an etymological point of view, the term biotope means space in which life develops, this is because the prefix bio refers to life and mole It is equivalent to earth, that is:

Biotopes are areas or surfaces that offer environmental conditions for the development of flora and fauna.

Ernst Haeckel, the first scientist to talk about the biotope

the scientist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) He was the first to use the term biotope. This German zoologist was an important promoter of the theory of evolutionism. Haeckel stood out in the world of biology and gained important recognition after publishing his theory of recapitulation.

Biotope components

Let’s now look at the different components that influence the biotope.

The middle

The medium is the matter that surrounds the biocenosis. In it, plant and animal organisms reproduce, move and carry out their vital functions.

Air and water are the fundamental media. Although there are very special means, such as the intestine of a cow. In this organ, an ecosystem is formed consisting of fungi, bacteria and protists and a medium that is the cellular and pericellular content of the intestinal tract.

Air and water essential media

The substrate

The substrate is the physical component on which flora and fauna live.

Soil is the most frequently mentioned of the substrates, although when it comes to aquatic biotopes, water fulfills the functions of medium and substrate simultaneously.

The soil as a substrate

Abiotic environmental factors

For life to exist, defined environmental conditions are needed. Organisms live and function because they adapt to the abiotic factors that characterize the biotype. This is how a particular biotope is influenced by abiotic factors that make the existence of a specific biocenosis possible.

Some of the environmental factors are:

Water

The amount of humidity that a given surface has influences the type of biocenosis that develops there. While in an aquatic environment the biocenosis determined is different from that of a terrestrial environment.

Moisture on the surface of the plant leaf

Temperature

Living beings need a temperature range between -18ºC and 50ºC to perform their basic functions. Above and below these limits, it is possible to find life in a dormant state.

When temperatures are extremely high, the biocenosis is made up of a very low number of species. Above a certain value, proteins become denatured. In the case of very low temperatures, there are also few living beings that manage to survive.

Low temperatures and warm temperature

Solar radiation

The way in which solar radiation affects and their quality affects the biocenosis that lives and reproduces in a biotype. The lack of solar radiation affects the food cycle and decreases the productivity of living beings.

Sunlight

Climate

Climate is essential to characterize the different types of species that live on a particular surface. In a tropical climate biotope The characteristics of the plant and animal organisms that live there are different from those of the flora and fauna of a cold climate.

Relief

The relief and movements of the tectonic plates have had a notable impact on the development and evolution of living beings, as well as the distribution of the world’s population. Landforms affect temperature, for example, the lower the altitude, the higher the temperature. The slope of the relief affects the availability of water in the subsoil.

Rivers, seas, lakes, mountains and oceans influence the growth of populations. For example, high humidity favors the expansion of a particular biocenosis.

Types of biotopes

Let’s now see the different types of biotypes that exist.

Terrestrial biotopes

In terrestrial biotopes the biocenosis or biotic community is installed on the land and is immersed in the air. Its variability is latitudinal, so when we move from any point on earth towards the equator we will encounter cold, temperate and tropical biotopes. It is important to keep in mind that on a surface there can be as many biotopes as possible groupings of soil types, altitude, relief and climate can be executed.

Terrestrial biotope

Aquatic biotopes

In aquatic biotopes the medium in which the biocenosis lives is water. There are freshwater and marine biotypes.

In the marine world there is a great variety of biotopes. The characteristics of each of the biotopes depend on whether they are located on the ocean floor, the open sea or in marine trenches.

Wind, temperature, and climate have a decisive impact on the flora and fauna that grows, develops and reproduces in the marine environment.

Aquatic biotope

Amazon biotope

The Amazon River rises in the Andes mountain range and runs through the extensive Amazon rainforest of Peru, Colombia and Brazil. This territory is considered the main lung of our planet.

The flow of the Amazon River is fed by hundreds of tributaries that flow into it, making it the largest in the world. Its route begins in the well-known Andean mountain range and ends when it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Image taken from: eltiempo

This ecosystem has a 6-month wet season. During this period the rivers grow very high and flood the Amazon rainforest for much of the year. These environmental conditions give way to landscapes in which roots and trees submerged under water predominate. This natural environment generates living conditions to which the living beings that live there are adapted.

The flora and fauna present in the Amazon is very varied. As for mammals, jaguars, pumas and dolphins stand out. 20% of the world’s species of plants and birds are found in this ecosystem. Highlighting the macaws and toucans for the birds. While in the forest the Amazonian Victoria plant grows, famous because its circular leaves measure up to four meters in diameter.

For those interested in aquariums, the Amazon River is a true paradise. We are talking about a source that provides the largest number of fish species that are today found in aquariums and stores around the planet.

Mediterranean biotope

The Mediterranean biotope has forest vegetation with many bushes. Mediterranean forests are characterized by rainy, mild winters and dry, hot or temperate summers, that is, a climate similar to that around the Mediterranean Sea.

The Mediterranean biotopes are located in five climatic regions, these are:

The endorheic basin.Around the Mediterranean Sea, between southern Europe, the western Middle East and northern Africa.
The Chilean scrub.It is located on the western coast of South America and in central Chile.
The Californian chaparral. Present in the state of California of the United States of America.
The South African fynbos. Located in the Cape region.
The mallee. Southwest and southern Australia.

Regarding the fauna in the Mediterranean biotope, insects are a very numerous group, they support food chains that include rodents, squirrels and birds of prey. Also, there are large predators in this natural environment such as lynxes, foxes and wolves.

The predominant vegetation is xerophilous and sclerophyllous. Species such as rosemary, thyme, rockrose and plants such as mastic and sarsaparilla abound. There are also others that produce flowers such as the stone pine and the Aleppo pine. On more humid surfaces it is common to see cork oak.

biotope aquarium

A biotope aquarium is an aquarium that has been built in the image and likeness of a specific aquatic environment.. By recreating a natural environment in an aquarium, it is possible to reproduce the physical-chemical conditions that allow a specific aquatic population to develop and survive in a similar way to how they would in their natural biotype.

While it is true that it is not possible to exactly recreate the biotype of a river, a sea or an ocean, it cannot be ignored that with a little research and work the biotype aquarium can come quite close to the natural environment. The proper selection of decoration, essential elements and population gives very good results.

The biotope aquarium is divided into three groups that we describe below:

exist aquariums in which their population is chosen according to the geographical area to which its inhabitants belong, without the need for them to be related by a particular biotype. An example would be an aquarium for the enormously sized fish from the Seine River. When the organisms that make up the aquarium are selected taking into account the coincident environmental characteristics, it is said that we are in the presence of a ecological aquarium. For example, you can build an aquarium for saltwater, tropical, and warmwater fish.

If what is required is an aquarium in which a particular state is recreated that allows the conservation of a single species of fish, then we are in the presence of a specific aquarium. An example would be an aquarium for parrot fish. These beautiful fish need seawater and the algae that comes off corals.

biotope aquarium

Some examples of the biotope aquarium are:

Amazonian biotope aquarium

The Amazonian biotope aquarium is of the geographical type and, without fear of being wrong, it is the one that has the most followers throughout the world.. Thanks to the beauty of the specimens that live in the Amazon River, aquarium hobbyists are delighted. The simplicity of the fish that this river offers, as well as their ease of finding them in any store, are two attributes highly valued by those who want to build an Amazonian biotope aquarium.

It is important to keep in mind that although the Amazon basin is immense, the different biotopes that make it up, both in the Amazon basin and in the different tributaries, are quite homogeneous.

The Amazonian biotype aquarium should be composed of rocks, giant trunks, few plants, and many roots and leaves at the bottom. The tone of the water should be dark, a product of the substance released by the tree trunks. Additionally, this type of aquarium should have a light-colored sand substrate.

Amazonian biotope aquarium

Mediterranean biotope aquarium

When creating a Mediterranean biotope aquarium, you must consider the…