Man’s Physiological Responses to Environmental Stresses | Anthropology Optional for UPSC PDF Download

Habitat

• Habitat is a place where a plant or animal lives often characterised by either dominant plant forms or physical characteristics (e.g. grasslands habitat). Or a Habitat is a specific set of physical and chemical conditions (e.g. space, climate) that surrounds a single species, a group of species or a large community.
• To appreciate the variety of ecosystem exploited by man we need to consider the range offered by different combinations of habitat and economy. Thus, classification of both habitats and economic groups are needed which will include the ecosystern of pre-literate and prehistoric man as well as of more advanced societies. A simple classification of habitat should indicate the chief climatic, floral, faunal and topographical characters, and a classification of economic or social groups should sufficiently indicate the mode of livelihood and the complexity of the community. Elaborate classifications of habitats, economies or ecosystems are not really called for since their variation is immense.

Classification of Habitats

Habitats may be roughly classified into 10 groups; the first nine depend broadly on geographical latitude and the last being determined by altitude. The ecological stresses vary in these different habitats, due to different combinations of climatic, nutritional diseases and other factors. In Table are given the main feature of these 10 groups of habitats, and in Table their geographical distribution in different continents is shown.