Flora refers to plants, fungi, and algae in an environment, while fauna refers to animals. Flora can also refer to a book describing plants. Indigenous species are native to an area, while introduced species are not. Flora and fauna have subdivisions based on region, climate, and size. Scientists study them separately and together.
The term flora is often used to refer to all plants, fungi and algae in a given environment, while fauna refers to the animals that live there. The scientific definition of flora and fauna is the plants and animals that live in a particular area or time. The difference between them comes from whether plants or animals are discussed.
In botany, or the study of plants, flora actually has two distinct definitions. First, it can mean the plants of a given environment or time period, as listed above, or it can refer to a book or similar work that describes plants for identification purposes. This first definition is the most common and refers specifically to those plant species that are native to an area or time. An indigenous species, whether plant or animal, is one that originated in an area and continues to grow and survive there without any human interference. The opposite of native species are introduced ones.
Both flora and fauna have further classifications or subdivisions. Flora classifications depend on the region, climate, environment, and period of the plants described. Faunal subdivisions are mainly based on where the animals live and their size.
There are many different flora regions across the planet. Some regions can be as large as entire continents or as small as wetlands or mountainous regions. In addition to geographical areas, climate and time periods can group different plants into floras. Plants can also be grouped into native, agricultural and garden, and weed flora.
There are seven different subdivisions of fauna that are used, based on where the animals are found and their size. Infauna and epifauna are aquatic animals that live in or on the bottom of the ocean floor, respectively. The microfauna is microscopic in size, while the meiofauna is slightly larger and lives in both retail and freshwater environments. Macrofauna are tiny soil organisms, larger than the meiofauna, but smaller than earthworms and nematodes, which are part of the mesofauna group. Megafauna are the large animals of the particular environment under discussion.
Both the flora and fauna of a region are studied separately and together by different kinds of scientists. Botanists, or plant scientists, mainly study flora, while zoologists study fauna. Ecologists and those who study conservation look both together, as the two groups depend on each other for survival.
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