Flora and fauna refer to plant and wildlife, respectively. The term is often used to refer to the indigenous plant and wildlife of a geographical region. Both are collective terms, referring to groups of plant or wildlife specific to a region or a time period. For example, the flora and fauna of a warm region may consist of tropical to warm-temperate vegetation and exotic species of birds.
By definition, flora is a word of Latin origin referring to Flora, the goddess of flowers. The term can refer to a group of plants or to bacteria. Flora is the root of the word floral, which means pertaining to flowers. Fauna can refer to the animal life or classification of animals of a certain region, time period, or environment. The term is also of Latin origin, and in Roman mythology, Fauna was the sister of Faunus, a good spirit of the forest and plains.
The flora and fauna of any given region are usually explained in biological terms to include the genus and species of plant and animal life, their preferred growing or breeding habits, and their connection to one another in the environment as well. In addition to geographical groupings, environment also helps further their classification. For example, aquatic flora and fauna of a region refers to the plant and animal life found in the waters in or surrounding a geographic region.
Biologists and environmentalists study the plants and animals of a region for a number of reasons. Preservation and conservation are main reasons why they are important to researchers, as their ability to teach scientists new things about biology. Several organizations, including Fauna and Flora International (FFI), work together to use their research and findings to further policy on conservation and preservation as well as biodiversity.
What’s in a Name: Flora and Fauna
Both flora and fauna are words that have roots in Latin. Flora comes from earlier Latin root words for flower, flor or flos. Flora later refers to the goddess of flowers in Latin. Fauna is also a later Latin translation, coming from the name of a goddess; the sister of Faunus is Fauna, the rural goddess. When you talk about the flora and the fauna of a place, you are talking about the plants and animals that live there.
The flora and fauna of an area aren’t just discussed in blanket old Latin terms, however. Scientists break their classifications down even further into genus and species. They record details about their wildlife by studying their reproductive habits, diets, young rearing, and relationships in the wild. Plantlife is very similar. Scientists record their reproductive methods, native regions, hardiness zones, and potential threats to growing environments.
In earlier times, scientists used the term flora to describe the handbooks and manuals they used to record a region's wildlife and plant life.
Flora
Remember that flora refers to the plant life of a region. Each region has a bounty of plant life. As a result, scientists divided flora into subsections to make classification easier and more accessible. The three unique classifications are native flora, horticultural flora, and weed flora.
Native Flora
Native flora is the vegetation or plantlife in a region that is indigenous to that area. Native plants grow better with less manipulation than plants that have been brought from elsewhere or translated because the conditions are suitable for their cultivation. Watering responsibilities are less frequent, as is the need for fertilizer as the necessary nutrients are found in the native soil.
Horticultural Flora
Horticultural flora refers to plants that are cultivated explicitly by humans for consumption or production. Horticultural flora can be agricultural plants or horticultural cultivars used for landscaping. Some examples of horticultural flora are:
- Ornamental trees, flowers, and grasses
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Flowers
- Lawn grasses
- Wheat
- Rice
Weed Flora
Initially, weed flora used to refer to plants that human beings found to be unpleasant and removed from the region in which they lived. The term “weeding” is synonymous with weed flora cultivars. However, as ecosystems become more and more advanced and the knowledge of flora deepened, even the most staunch weeders realize that there are no band plants or “weeds,” just dangerous invasive species.
Invasive Species: Flora or Fauna
Invasive species can come in the form of both flora and fauna. Invasive species refer to plant or animal life that is non-native to the ecosystem of a particular area. Why does this identification matter? The presence of non-native species often causes harm to the health of a site. Invasive species take the resources for themselves, interrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem, and harm others in the process. Humans can be invasive species, too.
Invasive species are spread by people, accidents, and the natural movement of plants and animals. Invasive species must be returned to their primary origin or destroyed to maintain the health of an ecosystem. If not, there is a real danger of extinction, destruction, and forever changed habitats.
Fauna
Fauna refers to all of the wildlife in a particular region. Often scientists refer to the past and present fauna of an area when referring to nature. Fauna requires a similar subcategory system to classify wildlife in a specific place at a particular time in history. There are many subcategories of fauna, though the most common are as follows.
Megafauna
Megafauna refers to the animals or wildlife that is so big they can be seen with the naked eye from quite a far distance away. An example of megafauna from this period would be an elephant. An example of megafauna from the past would be a ground sloth.
Macrofauna
An interestingly specific category of macrofauna is smaller than an earthworm but one centimeter or more long. An example of macrofauna is a snail.
Microfauna
Microfauna is microscopic animals that cannot be seen with the naked eye. You guessed it; you need a microscope to see these teeny weeny creatures native to a specific area. An example of living microfauna is rotifers that live in water bacteria.
Infauna
Infauna is the animals that live in the sediment layers of bodies of water. Clams are an example of a notable infauna.
Cryofauna
Cryofauna can live in subzero temperatures or on ice without being harmed or disrupting homeostasis. Some examples of cryofauna are seals, penguins, and orcas.