Habitats

Learn about habitats and why they are so important for animals and plants.

What is a Habitat?

A habitat is a place where an animal or a plant lives. A habitat will have everything that an animal or a plant needs to survive, from non living things like water or the right temperature, to living things like other animals or plants to eat. Because different animals and plants need so many different things, there are many different types of habitats! Click on the images below to learn more about three different types of habitats.

Because there are so many different types of frogs, you can find frogs in lots of different types of habitats. But the frogs that we are interested in are the frogs that come from pond habitats, which can be found all over the UK.

Pond habitats usually contain fresh water and and you can found around two thirds of all freshwater species living in a pond! Look at some of the kinds of frogs you can find in ponds.

  • Rana temporaria mating in pond - by Thomas Brown

Having the Right Habitat

Habitats are very important for animals and plants to live. If an animal or plant is in the wrong habitat, then they find it much harder to survive and get everything they need.

Watch the video below to learn more about why having the right habitat is so important.

To learn more about food chains that are mentioned in the video, you can click here!

Do Humans Influence Habitats?

Yes! Humans, just like other animals, need food, water, shelter and space to live. There are over 8 billion people on Earth and this means we need a lot of resources and space to live. The actions that we take have an influence on other habitats, which can be harmful to other plants and animals. Learn more about some affects we have on habitats by clicking on the images below.

We have to always stay mindful of how our actions affect other animals and plants sharing habitats with us and work to reduce the negative affects we have on living organisms and the environment.

The Digestive System

 

The digestive system is modified to account for the change of the herbivorous diet of the tadpole to the carnivorous diet of the frog.

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The Skin

 

The skin adapts for the change from a purely aquatic lifestyle to an amphibious lifestyle.

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The Reproductive System

 

The urogenital system develops to allow for reproduction in adulthood.

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The Skeleton

 

The skeletal structure develops to accommodate the change from tail swimming to using legs to move around. The skull also needs to be remodelled for a frog's change in vision.

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The Nervous System

 

A tadpole sees from eyes that are positioned on opposite sides of the head. During metamorphosis, the optical nerves develop to accommodate a frog's binocular vision, where the eyes are positioned at the front of the head.

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1. Mating and Laying Spawn

 

Male and female frogs go to ponds in the winter. They mate in the spring, and the female lays big clumps of eggs.

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2. Frog Spawn

 

Frogs eggs are called frogspawn. Each round black egg is about 1 mm wide and is surrounded by a blob of jelly. Other animals produce spawn as well, which you can look at here.

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3. Maturing Frog Spawn

 

After a few days, the eggs begin to grow into tiny tadpoles inside the jelly.

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4. Hatchlings

 

Then the tadpoles hatch! They are about 5 mm long and they can’t swim (yet). They can bend their body from side to side using special muscles along their trunks and tails.

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5. Young Tadpoles

 

When their tail is big enough, they swim off into the pond to start to feed. At first they have gills (the pale protrusions from the head region in the left photo) so they can breath underwater like fish. Young tadpoles feed by grazing the surface of pond weeds and also eating tiny floating plants called algae.

Click here to play a tadpole feeding game called Taddypole!

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6. Maturing Tadpoles

 

Later they develop lungs and can swim up to the surface of the water to breath. The gills are absorbed back into their bodies and eyes develop. Older tadpoles are then able to feed on small animals like young insects.

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7. Mature Tadpoles

The next stage in development is to grow back legs. Tadpoles during this stage need to eat meat in order to get the proper nutrients to grow.

If you are looking after tadpoles, be careful as they can eat each other if you don't give them meat to eat! Click here to learn more about how to look after tadpoles as pets.

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8. Froglet

Finally, tadpoles grow front legs and their tail shrinks until it almost disappears. This is when they climb out of the pond and start living on dry land. Small frogs are commonly called froglets.

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9. Adult Frog

The little froglets will stay by the pond and slowly grow over the summer, eating small insects and worms. They will hibernate just like other adult frogs in damp spots near ponds from autumn until the next spring.

After four years, the new frogs will become adults and will be ready to mate and begin the cycle again.

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Copy - 9. Adult Frog

The little froglets will stay by the pond and slowly grow over the summer, eating small insects and worms. They will hibernate just like other adult frogs in damp spots near ponds from autumn until the next spring.

After four years, the new frogs will become adults and will be ready to mate and begin the cycle again.

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