For other uses, see fauna (disambiguation).
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Simplified schematic of an island's fauna – all its animal species, highlighted in boxes
Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora. Flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess Shale fauna". Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils.
Contents
- 1 Etymology
- 2 Subdivisions
- 2.1 Cryofauna
- 2.2 Cryptofauna
- 2.3 Infauna
- 2.4 Epifauna
- 2.5 Macrofauna
- 2.6 Megafauna
- 2.7 Meiofauna
- 2.8 Mesofauna
- 2.9 Microfauna
- 2.10 Other
- 3 Treatises
- 4 See also
- 5 References
- 6 External links
Etymology
Fauna comes from the Latin names Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and panis is the Greek equivalent of fauna. Fauna is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was first used by Linnaeus in the title of his 1745[1] work Fauna Suecica.
Subdivisions
Australian and New Zealand fauna. This image was likely first published in the first edition (1876–1899) of the Nordisk familjebok.
Cryofauna
Cryofauna are animals that live in, or very close to, ice.
Cryptofauna
Cryptofauna are the fauna that exist in protected or concealed microhabitats.[2]
Infauna
Infauna are benthic organisms that live within the bottom substratum of a body of water, especially within the bottom-most oceanic sediments, rather than on its surface. Bacteria and microalgae may also live in the interstices of bottom sediments. In general, infaunal animals become progressively smaller and less abundant with increasing water depth and distance from shore, whereas bacteria show more constancy in abundance, tending toward one million cells per milliliter of interstitial seawater.
Epifauna
Epifauna, also called epibenthos, are aquatic animals that live on the bottom substratum as opposed to within it, that is, the benthic fauna that live on top of the sediment surface at the seafloor.
Macrofauna
Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are retained on a 0.5 mm sieve. Studies in the deep sea define macrofauna as animals retained on a 0.3 mm sieve to account for the small size of many of the taxa.
Megafauna
Main article: Megafauna
Megafauna are large animals of any particular region or time. For example, Australian megafauna.
Meiofauna
Main article: Meiobenthos
Meiofauna are small benthic invertebrates that live in both marine and fresh water environments. The term Meiofauna loosely defines a group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, rather than a taxonomic grouping. One environment for meiofauna is between grains of damp sand (see Mystacocarida).
In practice these are metazoan animals that can pass unharmed through a 0.5 – 1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 30–45 μm mesh,[3] but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism passes through a 1 mm mesh also depends upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting.
Mesofauna
Main article: Soil mesofauna
Mesofauna are macroscopic soil invertebrates such as arthropods or nematodes. Mesofauna are extremely diverse; considering just the springtails (Collembola), as of 1998, approximately 6,500 species had been identified.[4]
Microfauna
Main article: Microfauna
Microfauna are microscopic or very small animals (usually including protozoans and very small animals such as rotifers).
Other
Examples of fauna in Olleros de Tera (Spain)
Other terms include avifauna, which means "bird fauna" and piscifauna (or ichthyofauna), which means "fish fauna".
Treatises
Classic faunas
- Linnaeus, Carolus. Fauna Suecica. 1746
See also
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Ecology portal |
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Earth sciences portal |
- Biodiversity
- Biome
- Ecology
- Ecosystem
- Environmental movement
- Fauna and Flora Preservation Society
- Gene pool
- Genetic erosion
- Genetic pollution
- Natural environment
- Soil zoology
References
- ^ Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Linnaeus
- ^ [1]
- ^ Fauna of Sandy Beaches
- ^ Josef Rusek (1998). "Biodiversity of Collembola and their functional role in the ecosystem". Biodiversity and Conservation 7 (9): 1207–1219. doi:10.1023/A:1008887817883.
External links
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Look up fauna in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fauna. |
- http://www.springerlink.com/content/v7044wm252462k53/
Elements of nature
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Universe |
- Space
- Time
- Energy
- Matter
- Change
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Earth |
- Earth science
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Weather |
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Environment |
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Life |
- Origin (abiogenesis)
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- Organism
- Eukaryota
- flora
- fauna
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- protista
- Prokaryotes
- Viruses
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Fauna of Africa
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Sovereign states |
- Algeria
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- Uganda
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States with limited
recognition
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- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Somaliland
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Dependencies and
other territories
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- Mayotte / Réunion (France)
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Fauna of Asia
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Sovereign states |
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
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States with
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- Abkhazia
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Dependencies and
other territories |
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Christmas Island
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- Hong Kong
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Fauna of Europe
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Sovereign states |
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria
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- Belgium
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- Bulgaria
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States with limited
recognition |
- Abkhazia
- Kosovo
- Nagorno-Karabakh
- Northern Cyprus
- South Ossetia
- Transnistria
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Dependencies and
other territories |
- Åland
- Faroe Islands
- Gibraltar
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- Isle of Man
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Fauna of Oceania
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Sovereign states |
- Australia
- Fiji
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
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Associated states
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Dependencies
and other territories |
- American Samoa
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Easter Island
- French Polynesia
- Guam
- Hawaii
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- Norfolk Island
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Pitcairn Islands
- Tokelau
- Wallis and Futuna
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Fauna of North America
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Sovereign states |
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Canada
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
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- United States
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Dependencies and
other territories
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- Saba
- Sint Eustatius
- Sint Maarten
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United States Virgin Islands
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Fauna of South America
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Sovereign states |
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Guyana
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Suriname
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
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Dependencies and
other territories
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- Falkland Islands
- French Guiana
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
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