Terrestrial ecosystem facts for kids

Terrestrial ecosystems are special places on Earth found on land. Think of them as all the different kinds of environments you can walk on! Some common examples include chilly tundra, vast taiga forests, green temperate deciduous forests, steamy tropical rain forests, wide-open grasslands, and dry deserts.

These land-based ecosystems are different from aquatic ecosystems (which are found in water) because they mostly have soil instead of water covering the ground. Also, plants in terrestrial ecosystems grow up from the soil into the air. Water can be a big challenge for life on land, as it's not always easy to find. In water ecosystems, there's usually plenty of water for living things. Because water helps keep temperatures steady, land ecosystems often have much bigger changes in temperature between day and night, and between seasons, compared to water ecosystems in the same climate.

Terrestrial ecosystems are super important! They help us reach a big goal called Sustainable Development Goal 15. This goal is all about protecting, restoring, and using land ecosystems in a way that keeps them healthy for the future.

Life on Land: Animals and Plants

Living things in land ecosystems have developed amazing ways to survive. For example, plants and animals have special features to get water when their whole body isn't surrounded by it. They also have ways to move water around inside their bodies and to stop water from evaporating off their skin or leaves.

Since air isn't as buoyant (floaty) as water, land organisms also need ways to support their bodies against gravity. They also have traits that help them handle extreme temperatures, strong winds, and different levels of humidity (how much moisture is in the air). And because water doesn't carry things around as easily on land, organisms have found many clever ways to reproduce, like using wind or insects to move their reproductive cells.

How Big Are Land Ecosystems?

Terrestrial ecosystems cover a huge area: about 144,150,000 square kilometers (which is about 55,660,000 square miles). That's almost 30% of Earth's entire surface!

Many different types of plants live in these ecosystems. The most common are flowering plants (called Magnoliophyta), with about 275,000 different kinds. Conifers (like pine trees, called Pinophyta) are also important, with about 500 species. Smaller plants like mosses and liverworts (Bryophyta) are also found, with around 24,000 species.

Animals are also very diverse on land. There are about 900,000 species of insects (Insecta), 8,500 species of birds (Aves), and around 4,100 species of Mammals (Mammalia).

See also

In Spanish: Ecosistema terrestre para niños