Difference Between Flora and Fauna

Our ecosystem is a complex, interconnected network which comprises of biotic and abiotic elements. Further, biotic elements refer to all living organisms like plants, animals, and microorganisms. On the other hand, the abiotic element is non-living entities that are essential for the survival of life. Thus, they include soil, water, climate, and others. Hence, you see how flora and fauna are quite fascinating biotic elements. Similarly, in this article, we will explain the difference between flora and fauna for a better understanding. Therefore, you see that flora is the plant life of an area or a certain period. Alternatively, fauna is the wildlife of an area or a specific period.

Definition of Flora

Flora is derived from the Latin language. Thus, it implies the collection of native plants within an ecosystem. Moreover, they are plants that grow in a geographical area or a specific period. Further, it is a botanical term that represents a varied assortment of plant life which is present in a certain location or time of the year. In addition, one can classify them on the basis of the climate, region, period, and more. But, mostly we classify it on the basis of the environment where they occur naturally. Thus, we have native flora, agricultural flora, horticultural flora, and finally, weed flora.

Definition of Fauna

Fauna is derived from the Greek language. Further, it is named after a Roman Goddess. Thus, it implies the group of animals living in a certain geographical area, habitat, or at a specific period of time. In other words, it signifies the animal kingdom which is present in an area. Similarly, it includes animals, birds, and microorganisms. In addition, they cannot make their own food and depend on plants and animals for their food. Moreover, we classify them in different categories. Hence, they are Cryofauna, Cryptofauna, Infauna, Epifauna, Megafauna, and Microfauna.

Difference between Flora and Fauna

Basis of Comparison	Flora	Fauna
Meaning	It refers to the natural vegetation in a specific geographical region like plants, fungi, algae, and more	It refers to the animals that live in a specific geographical region like animals, birds, microorganisms, and more
Study	The study of flora is Botany and one who studies it is Botanist	Study of fauna is Zoology and one who studies it is a Zoologist
Classification	Native flora, agricultural flora, horticultural flora, and weed flora	Cryofauna, cryptofauna, infauna, epifauna, macrofauna, megafauna, meiofauna, and microfauna
Nutrition	Autotrophs which are capable of making their own food and energy	Heterotrophs which depend on plants for their food and energy
Composition	All plants	All animals
Evolution	The first form of life to appear on earth	Appeared after flora
Cell Wall	Present	Absent
Chloroplast	Present	Absent
Locomotion	Immovable	Mobile
Climate	Climate affects the flora	Fauna affects the climate
Example	Forests, grasslands, flowering plants, trees, etc.	Animals, birds, fish, insects, etc.

More details about Flora

As we know there are four types of flora. Thus, we will look at what they are. Native flora refers to the plants belonging to a specific region. Further, agricultural flora is the plant grown on purpose by humans to meet their needs.

Moreover, horticultural flora is a garden flora. Humans grow it for the purpose of decoration. Finally, weed flora is one that grows along with the main plants. They are often termed as unwanted plants.

More details about Fauna

Cryofauna is animal present in cold places. Further, cryptofauna are organisms that are protected in concealed microhabitats. Further, infauna refers to organisms that are present in the bottom-most part of a water body, mainly in the oceanic sediments.

In addition, epifauna is aquatic animals present at the bottom of a water body. After that, megafauna is the large animals present in a particular region. Finally, microfauna is the organism which are quite small in size.

FAQs about Flora and Fauna

Question 1: Give one difference between flora and fauna.

Answer 1: A major difference between flora and fauna is that flora is composed of plants whereas fauna refers to animals.

Question 2: What is the economical importance of flora and fauna?

Answer 2: The flora and fauna are economically important because of their contribution to tourism. In other words, they attract a lot of tourists. Caribbean and Amazon forests are some areas that make a lot of money every year because of the incredible flora and fauna found there.