| The limits of tolerance govern the geographic | | | | and temperature. One very important environmental |
| distribution of organisms. A plant or animal species is | | | | factor is the soil. It lies beneath the thin layer of the |
| usually concentrated in areas where the conditions are | | | | bedrock on earth. It is formed mostly from weathering |
| best for it. Habitats are broadly classified as aquatic or | | | | rocks and minerals. It may also be from the erosion of |
| terrestrial. Aquatic habitats may be subdivided into | | | | running water and wind. In addition, there are other |
| marine or salt water and fresh water. All over the | | | | forces of nature that affects it too. Soil may vary in |
| world, marine habitats include shoreline mangrove | | | | different localities, according to the kind of plant and |
| swamps, intertidal zones, coral reefs, open seas, | | | | animal life it supports. |
| ocean depths and estuaries. | | | | The tilting of the earth's axis contributes to the unequal |
| Some examples of freshwater habitats are lakes, | | | | distribution of temperature over the earth's surface. |
| swamps, rivers, ponds, irrigation canals and ditches. In | | | | The poles are tilted toward the sun and away from it. |
| the same way, there are many kinds of terrestrial | | | | That is why there are places which have four |
| habitats such as forests, orchards and grasslands. | | | | seasons namely summer, winter, spring and autumn. |
| Specifically, we will find thick tropical virgin forests, pine | | | | When the earth is tilted toward the sun, the days get |
| stands, coconut groves, citrus plantations, bamboo | | | | longer and warmer. Temperature varies from region to |
| thickets, cogon fields on mountain slopes, lowland | | | | region at a given time because the rays of the sun |
| grasslands and cultivated fields. | | | | strike the earth at different angles. That is why it is |
| In all these habitats of plants and animal, many | | | | important for some organisms in this world to cope |
| important physicochemical factors are found. These | | | | with the changes in temperature in order to survive. |
| factors, which interact with living things, may include soil | | | | |