We explain what fauna is, its types and the characteristics of wild and domestic fauna. Also, its relationship with flora.
What is fauna?
The fauna It is the set of living animal beings that inhabit a specific geographic region.forming ecological ties of different types among themselves and sharing the same geological time. That is, those animals that coexist in a precise place for a certain time: predators, prey, parasites, etc. All animals are part of the fauna.
The term “fauna” comes from Latin: it was the name that the goddess of the fertility of fields, forests and nature received in ancient Roman worship. Nowadays it is often used together with flora, which refers to plant life in the same terms.
Fauna can be classified in many different ways, depending on the environment in which they live or the conditions in which they do so. In this way, and broadly speaking, we usually talk about:
- jungle fauna. The one that lives in large and dense vegetation areas of the tropics, such as the South American or African jungles.
- Xerophilous fauna. That which is typical of deserts and arid areas, with little humidity and little vegetation.
- Polar fauna. Which covers the different inhabitants of the region of the earth's poles and its surrounding area.
- High mountain fauna. Consisting mostly of birds and other forms of life that prefer the heights and cool climate of mountain peaks.
- Marine fauna. The one that lives in the seas and oceans, dedicating the largest portion of its existence to the underwater world.
- Terrestrial fauna. That which lives on the continental shelf, as opposed to the marine one.
- urban fauna. The one that is typical of cities and that cohabits with humanity, without necessarily consisting of pets.
See also: Animal kingdom
Wildlife and domestic fauna
Another way of classifying fauna is the one that takes into account its relationship with humans, distinguishing between wild and domestic animals:
- Wild or wild fauna. Those animals that have not had or have had very little contact with humans, and are unaccustomed to their presence, so that they do not have established ties with them. They are autonomous animals, accustomed to life in their respective habitats and potentially dangerous to humans.
- Domestic or domesticated fauna. Those animals that, on the contrary, are accustomed to interaction with humans and have established bonds of coexistence with them, harmonious or not. In this category are farm animals, for example, as well as the pets that we have in our homes, and that largely depend on us for their subsistence. The destiny of these animals is closely linked to that of human beings.
- Wild fauna. Those animals that were once domestic, but due to a radical change in habitat, returned to the wild and are, in the best of cases, in an intermediate space between the wild and the domestic.
Fauna and flora
Just as fauna encompasses the animal species of a geographical location, Flora includes plant species and fungi. The concept works in a way identical to that of fauna, distinguishing between the habitat of the species and establishing their relationship with humans (for example, wheat and barley are domestic species, accustomed to agricultural cultivation; jungle plant species, in change, no).
Flora and fauna establish very close relationships with each other. and they are, in ecological terms, inseparable from each other. In other words, every ecosystem contains interrelated elements of each, and often the changes suffered in one irreparably alter the other. It is for this reason that we often talk about the urgent need to preserve the flora and fauna of ecosystems in the world.
References
- “Fauna” on Wikipedia.
- “Flora and fauna” in Icarito (Chile).
- “Fauna and recreation: uses, abuses and opportunities” by Olga M. González at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina).
- “Fauna” in Biology Dictionary.
- “Fauna (roman godess)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
