Habitat at Higher Level: The same statement as SL. HL questions ask you to describe a named species' habitat precisely and to keep it apart from its niche.
Practise this as you read
- Outline the habitat of a named species in three layers.
- Distinguish between the habitat and the niche of a species.
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The big idea: A habitat is the place where an organism, a population, a species or a community lives. It is the address; what the species does there is its niche.
The points to remember
- Geographical location: where on Earth, such as a country, coastline or region.
- Physical location: where exactly, such as the middle shore, a riverbank or the forest floor.
- Type of ecosystem: rocky shore, coral reef, rainforest, grassland or swamp.
- A habitat can belong to one organism, a population, a species or a whole community.
Habitat
- Where it lives
- Geographical and physical location
- Type of ecosystem
Niche
- How it lives: its role
- How it feeds, grows and reproduces
- Its abiotic and biotic interactions
Remember it as: Habitat = address; niche = job.
Real example: one habitat, many species. A mangrove swamp is the habitat of the red mangrove and of the whole community living among its roots: fiddler crabs, young fish sheltering from predators, and the herons that hunt them.
Trap: A full habitat description has more than one layer: 'in the sea' is too vague. Give where on Earth, where exactly, and the ecosystem.
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How it is asked: Expect 'outline the habitat of a named species', or a question that asks you to tell a habitat from a niche.
IB-style questionOutline[3 marks]
Outline the habitat of the European beaver.
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