Flora vs Fauna – Differences between Flora and Fauna

What is Flora?

• The term “flora” can be understood as the naturally found native plants in one particular area. Flora refers to all kinds of life in the plant kingdom, but is typically used to describe the vegetation of an area.
• Sometimes, the term’microflora”, also known as ‘gut flora’ is used to refer to the naturally occurring microorganisms mostly fungi and bacteria that are found in various species.
• The word ‘flora’ is derived by the Latin name for the goddess of plants from the Roman mythology. She was called “Flora.”.
• Different species are classified into different Floras according to their geographical location and also referred to as floristic regions, climates and environmental conditions, as well as time.
• The area of flowers could comprise environments like valleys and mountains and valleys, while the time period could be historic, similar to fossil flora or current. They are further divided in accordance with their specific environments.
• The most frequently used floras are: native species, horticultural and agricultural plants, and weeds.
• The native flora are native or indigenous to a specific region. This implies that the plants are found naturally in these locations.
• Agro-horticultural or horticultural flora sometimes referred to as garden flora, comprises the plants that are cultivated by humans.
• Weed flora refers to a variety comprising plants which are not needed and unattractive. However, some plants that are included as weed species may help other ecosystems.
• In addition the use of the term Flora is also used to describe the recording of plants belonging to an area or time frame. They were usually published in books, but now they are now available through websites.

Examples of flora

Flowering plants

• Flowers are plants that produce flowers. They are also the largest amount of green plant species on the planet.
• They can be found all over the world, from deep seas to mountains to deserts.
• They are also known as angiosperms which bear seeds and flowers and can be found as shrubs, trees, and plants.
• These plants are equipped with special vessels, xylem and phloem, which help in transporting minerals, water, as well as food items to different parts within the plant.
• The flowering plants can be found in every kind of ecosystem, but they are mostly indigenous to various regions.
• The flowering plants that are part of the terrestrial flora include roses as well as mustard, apples tomatoes as well as cauliflowers. The aquatic floral flora comprise water lily lotus, hyacinth, the iris, etc.

Non-flowering plants

• Non-flowering plants are those that don’t bear flowers and do not have seeds. They are also known as gymnosperms.
• Gynosperm seeds are typically observed as cones.
• The plants are equipped with specialized vessels, xylem and phloem, which help in transporting minerals, water, and food to the different areas in the plants.
• Plant seeds aren’t covered in fruit and they don’t form fruit. The seeds are visible as conical structures.
• Plants that are not flowering, such as flowers, can be found in every ecosystem.
• The non-flowering plants found in terrestrial flora are aloe, cycads and pines Cactus, and others. The aquatic flora plants include mosses, ferns the hornworts, and others.

What is Fauna?

• Fauna refers to all living creatures that inhabit the specific location or during an exact time. The word “fauna” refers to all types of animal life. It is commonly used to signify the life of animals that are native to a particular area.
• The word “fauna” is derived from various names, including ‘Fauna’, the goddess of fertility and earth The Roman God”Faunus” from the Roman mythology and the associated forest spirits , ‘Fauns’.
• Fauna, as with flora is classified according to their location, features and climate, environmental conditions and time.
• Of these, the largest and most popular classification is based upon the region. A few of the floras that are based on the region include: cryofauna, cryptofauna epifauna and macrofauna. megafauna, meiofauna and microfauna.
• Cryofauna refers to animals that reside in or around cold regions.
• Cryptofauna refers to animals that reside in hideouts or in protected areas.
• Epifauna is the name given to the group of animals living in the bottom of sediments at the sea’s bottom.
• Infauna, on the other hand, refers to the animals that live in the ocean’s lowest levels living beneath layers of sediments.
• Macrofauna are soil animals that reside in 0.5 to 0.3 millimeter filter.
• Megafauna are large animals that reside in one particular area or at a specific period of time.
• Meiofauna comprises invertebrates which are larger than microfauna and smaller than megafauna.
• Invertebrates or microscopic creatures are included in microfauna.
• Other faunas such as avifauna include piscifauna which is made up of fishes.

Examples of fauna

Amphibians

• Amphibians are a family of animals capable of taking advantage of terrestrial and aquatic habitats.
• In the present, around 8100 amphibian species are found throughout the world.
• The most distinctive characteristic of amphibians is the moist skin that allows for breathing through the skin. Certain amphibians such as salamanders from the terrestrial and frogs may have lungs that aren’t there.
• Amphibians are thought to be among the animals with the highest risk of being harmed in the wild because they have skin that is semi-permeable and their eggs are also porous.
• Common amphibians which make up the fauna of the planet include salamanders, frogs toadsand caecilians.

Reptiles

• Reptiles are crawling mammals who live on the land. They have epidermal scales covering an entire or part of the body.
• Although the majority of reptiles are tetrapods that have the two-limb system they are terrestrial and don’t possess an aqua larval stage. Certain reptiles are limbless and exist as crawling creatures.
• Certain reptiles such as turtle and tortoise may have modified limbs that are flaps which aid in swimming.
• Today there are more than 10,000 reptile species are living on the planet.
• Each of these animals is different in their structure and as their habitats. Reptiles that have gone extinct are more diverse, with a range of marine plesiosaurs, to terrestrial dinosaurs that eat meat, and also occupying a variety of ecosystems.
• Reptiles that are common to the natural world are snakes, crocodiles turtles, lizards, etc.

What are the Similarities Between Flora and Fauna?

• The terms “flora” and “flora fauna” are broad words.
• In an ecosystem the organisms interact with each other in various ways.
• Additionally that, both are living organisms.
• In addition, they are eukaryotes.

Differences between Flora and Fauna – Flora vs Fauna