Page 22 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book. To close the book, close the tab.

22
HABITATS
Habitats change through the seasons
Many different plants can live in the same place if they grow and flower at different times of the year.
Every kind of living thing needs water, warmth and nourishment. Plants also need light. So how do so many kinds of living things share the same place (habitat)?
In fact, many living things are able to use the same space if they use it in different ways or at different times of the year. In picture  you can see how different plants use the same woodland through the year.
Growing early
Some plants even begin to grow in winter. Snowdrops are the first to shoot, sometimes even flowering while snow is still on the
  Seasonal changes on the forest floor.
ground. As the months pass, they are followed by other plants.
The first plants grow from bulbs, tubers and thick underground stems.
They use the food they have stored from the previous year. They do not need to wait for the ground to warm up, or the sun to shine strongly, in order to begin their annual growth.
So, by late spring the early plants have all flowered and set seeds almost before the other plants have even started putting out leaves.
January
February
March
April
Snowdrop (bulb)
Primrose Bluebell (bulb)
Bracken (underground stem)
Snowdrop
Primrose
Bracken
Cold
Cold/Cool
A lot of sun reaches the forest floor.
A lot of sun reaches the forest floor.
Bluebell