Habitat Communities

Vocabulary

Read the vocabulary terms to understand the reading better.

What Is a Community?

The word community can mean a group of people together in one place. Your neighbourhood is a community. The people in your neighbourhood all live in the same area.

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Depending on Each Other

People in communities depend on one another. Think of your school community. Students need teachers to teach them. Teachers need students to teach. Principals make sure their schools run smoothly. Principals need everyone else to help. The people in your school community need each other.

Plants and animals make communities, too.

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Habitat Communities

A habitat community is made up of all the plants and animals that live in a particular habitat. They depend on each other.

Animals in a community need the plants. Plants provide some animals with food. They provide places to hide. They also provide homes.

Plants in a community need the animals. Animal droppings fertilize the soil. This helps plants grow. Bees move pollen between flowers while they eat. This helps plants produce seeds and fruit. Some animals depend on other animals for food. For example, mice provide food for owls.

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Why Habitat Communities Are Important

What if all the trees disappeared from a habitat? Plants would not have shady places to grow. Birds’ nests would be on the ground. Predators could eat birds’ eggs.

Imagine that all the mice disappeared. Animals that eat mice might not find enough food to survive.

Every living thing in a habitat community depends on each other. They help each other to survive. They may not survive without each other.

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Show What You Know!

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