Georgia Habitats

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Georgia Habitats
Piedmont
Marsh/Swamp
Atlantic Ocean
Mountains
Coast
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Georgia Habitats

• The information on this slideshow will allow
  students to
• Differentiate among the habitats of Georgia and
  the organisms that live in each one
• Identify features of animals that grow and thrive
  in each region
• Identify features of plants that grow and thrive
  in each region

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Piedmont

•   The piedmont is an area of rolling hills.
  Piedmont means foot of the mountain. The
  piedmont has forests, lakes and rivers. Red clay
  gives the ground its color. It is located
  between the coastal plain and the mountains in
  the northern half of Georgia.

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Animals of the Piedmont

• Raccoons can be found all over Georgia! When
  people move in, habitats become smaller or
  disappear. Raccoons have adapted to their
  environment. They eat fruit, acorns, insects and
  vegetables. They will also forage through
  peoples garbage cans.

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Animals of the Piedmont

• The Great Horned Owl is the largest owl of the
  southern United States. Its "horns" are really
  ear tufts. It lives in wooded areas. It hunts
  during the night and eats rabbits, rodents,
  birds, fish and insects.

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Animals of the Piedmont

• The Timber Rattlesnake lives in forests. It
  eats rodents, rabbits, squirrels, birds, other
  snakes, lizards and frogs. Predators are bobcats,
  coyotes and skunks.

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Animals of the Piedmont

• The White-tailed Deer is found in all
  habitats, from high mountain forests to coastal
  marshes. It is mainly found in areas which have a
  mix of forest, old fields and active crop lands.
  The White-tailed Deer eats leaves, buds, twigs,
  acorns, fruits and mushrooms.

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Animals of the Piedmont

• The Opossum is nocturnal (actively looking for
  food at night). The species is omnivorous (eating
  both plants and animals). Its diet includes
  fruits, berries, insects, crayfish, small
  rodents, carrion (dead animal flesh) and even
  human garbage.

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Plants of the Piedmont

• With the arrival of European settlers,
  agriculture expanded quickly, with forests being
  cleared and cotton being grown in almost any
  place that was flat enough to plow. This exposed
  the land to erosion and leaching of nutrients,
  causing the valuable topsoil to wash away and
  leave the famous Georgia Red Clay. 

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Plants of the Piedmont

• Pine trees are the first to come back when a
  field is abandoned because they are tolerant of
  sunlight and dry conditions. Forestry became the
  main form of agriculture instead of cotton
  farming.

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Plants of the Piedmont

• Two other types of trees that populate this
  area are the live oak (Georgia state tree) and
  hickory tree.

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Plants of the Piedmont

• Kudzu was brought to the United States from
  Japan and was planted to help with soil erosion.

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Marsh/Swamp

• The Okefenokee Swamp is in southern Georgia and
  extends all the way to the Georgia-Florida state
  line. Few places in America can offer as varied
  and extensive wildlife as this southeastern
  swamp. Much of the wildlife is protected by law.

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Marsh/Swamp

• The Okefenokee Swamp is a true wildlife
  refuge. It is covered with peat (decaying
  plants). The peat is so thick in some areas that
  you can walk on top of it when you are in the
  water.

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Marsh/Swamp Animals

• The cottonmouth water moccasin is the only
  North American poisonous water snake! It is a pit
  viper in
• the same family as the copperhead and the
  rattler. This is a dangerous snake which will
  fight when attacked or even approach an intruder.

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Marsh/Swamp Animals

• Alligators are the largest reptiles in North
  America. Alligators are carnivorous. They like
  shallow fresh water with mud or sandy banks. When
  they are not hunting they like to take sun baths.

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Marsh/Swamp Animals

• The otter is a very smart, curious and playful
  animal.  It loves to make slides on river banks.
  It eats fish, crabs and small reptiles.
  Alligators are their only predator in the swamp.

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Marsh/Swamp Animals

• The Green Tree Frog (Georgia state amphibian)
  is nocturnal and may gather in large numbers at
  night to call. It eats small insects and other
  invertebrates. It can be found among floating
  plants or in the vegetation around the water.

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Marsh/Swamp Animals

• The Sandhill Crane is a large bird between 4-5
  feet in height. They nest in fairly open places
  where trees do not block their vision. When
  frightened or sensing danger, a crane sounds its
  alarm cry that can be heard for miles. Their
  nickname is the "watchmen of the swamp."

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Marsh/Swamp Animals

• At one time the osprey nest served as guide
  post to the local natives penetrating the
  unchartered interior. A pair will build their
  nest, usually in a high tree near a prairie and
  this area for a couple of miles in all
  directions will become their domain.

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Marsh/Swamp Plants

• The ecosystem of the swamp is fire dependent.
  Fires generally burn lightly due to the wet
  nature of the swamp. Cypress trees need
  occasional fires to survive.

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Marsh/Swamp Plants

• Some of the swamp is a prairie and covered
  with grass, moss and ferns. The Okefenokee has
  meat-eating plants which lure, trap and digest
  small animals. This specialization gives them the
  advantage of living in impoverished areas with
  little crowding from other plants.

Bladderwort
Golden trumpet
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Mountains

• Georgia's mountains are much older than the
  Rockies or even the Himalayas. The base of the
  Blue Ridge formed over a billion years ago, but
  the bulk of our mountains were created from
  oceanic sediments between 200 and 450 million
  years ago. The mountains cover the northern part
  of Georgia.

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Mountain Animals

• Largemouth Bass (Georgia state fish) are
  freshwater fish and generally inhabit clear,
  vegetated lakes, ponds and swamps. They prefer
  quiet, clear water and often hide in dense
  vegetation
• along the edges of a water body. Largemouth
  bass eat crayfish, frogs, insects and small
  fishes.

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Mountain Animals

• Bats are a valuable and fascinating part of
  Georgias natural heritage. 
• They provide a beneficial service by foraging
  on flying insects, many of which are pests.  A
  single bat can eat hundreds of mosquitoes in one
  hour!
•   The large number of caves formed in this area
  are an ideal habitat for bats.

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Mountain Animals

• The cardinal is a bird that lives in wooded
  areas. Cardinals like to eat seeds, fruits and
  insects. The male bird is red with a black face.
  The female has a red tail, wings and crest the
  rest of her body is brown. Both have a red beak.
  It does not migrate in the winter.

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Mountain Animals

• The Black Bear is the smallest of the American
  bears but it is the largest carnivore in eastern
  North America. It has a large heavy body with
  long legs, flat feet, stout claws and a very
  short tail. The Black Bear is nocturnal in the
  summer. It is an omnivore. It can also be found
  in the Okefenokee Swamp.   
•  

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Mountain Plants

•    The Georgia mountains provide a lush, thick
  area for a variety of plant life to grow. This
  mountain range originally formed by pressure,
  heat and water. It has been eroding for the past
  400 million years. The resulting rounded mountain
  range has formed rich forest soils which support
  the most diverse plant life in the State. The
  types of plants growing depend on the elevation.

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Mountain Plants

•    Two of the state flowers are found in the
  mountain area. Azaleas (Georgia state wildflower)
  can be found covering much of our state. An
  interesting thing about these lovely flowers is
  that they are actually mildly poisonous! When
  these flowers are eaten by animals, they can
  cause stomach and heart problems.
•  

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Mountain Plants

•    The Cherokee Rose (Georgia state flower) is
  also found in this area. Native American folklore
  says the flowers are a result of the tears shed
  during the Trail of Tears. Trees and bushes
  bearing fruit are also located in the mountains.

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Coast

•    Georgia's coast is made up of sandy beaches
  and barrier islands. The coastline of Georgia is
  almost 110 miles long. The Coastal Plain is part
  of a low land that extends around the coast of
  the eastern United States from New York to Texas.
  In Georgia, a chain of low islands called the Sea
  Islands lies just off the mainland.

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Coastal Animals

•    Sea Gulls are large birds and are usually grey
  or white with black markings on the head or
  wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed
  feet.They are ground nesting carnivores. They eat
  crabs and small fish.

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Coastal Animals

•    Ghost crabs live in burrows along the sandy
  beaches of the Eastern United States. The crabs
  can reach relatively large sizes of over 6
  inches. They are omnivorous and will eat other
  crabs, clams, insects and vegetation. Feeding
  activity takes place at night, while burrowing
  occurs during the day.

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Coastal Animals

•    The Brown Thrasher (Georgia state bird) can be
  seen throughout Georgia, but is most common in
  the southern and central portions of the state.
  It eats a variety of food including insects,
  invertebrates, small vertebrates, fruits and
  nuts.    

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Coastal Plants

•    The forests of Georgia's islands often are
  more extensive and better developed than those of
  other U.S. barrier islands. Canopies of Georgia's
  mature maritime forest
• are dominated by Spanish moss and live oaks.
     

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Coastal Plants

•    Other large canopy trees include southern
  magnolias, pines and cabbage palms. Smaller trees
  include the American holly and morning glory. On
  the beaches of the coast, sea oats grow on the
  dunes and help prevent erosion.     

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Atlantic Ocean

• The Atlantic Ocean is made of saltwater. The
  Atlantic Ocean near Georgia is warmer than most
  oceans in the world. Georgia's offshore waters
  lie along the migratory route for several species
  of marine
•  animals that are unique and play important
  environmental roles.

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Animals of the Ocean

• The sand tiger shark is very large and has a
  mouthful of sharp, spike-like teeth. It can eat
  just about anything it wants and swallow it
  whole. It doesn't attack humans. It is the only
  shark that controls how it floats in the water by
  burping!

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Animals of the Ocean

• After baby loggerhead turtles hatch, they
  immediately make their way to the sea. The only
  time a female loggerhead comes ashore is to nest.
  She will crawl up a beach at night, dig a pit in
  the sand with her hind flippers, and lay between
  80 and 120 eggs in the nest. Many of the eggs
  will be eaten or stolen by predators. After 50
  to 80 days, a few tiny hatchlings will struggle
  out of their eggs.

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Animals of the Ocean

• Right whales (Georgia state marine mammal) can
  grow up to 60 feet long and weigh up to 100 tons.
  Whalers thought the whales were the "right" ones
  to hunt since they float when killed. Over
  hunting caused their numbers to decrease. Today,
  the right whale is endangered. There are only
  350 left, so instead of hunting them, people
  often watch these acrobatic whales for pleasure.

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Animals of the Ocean

• Many types of fish live in the Atlantic Ocean
  off the coast of Georgia. Black sea bass,
  grouper, snapper, bluefish, tuna, amberjack,
  barracuda, sailfish, barracuda and mackerel are
  just some of the fish common to the area. Georgia
  has built a number of artificial reefs to attract
  fish and other sea life.

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Plants of the Ocean

• Gray's Reef contains both plant and animal
  life. The rock that forms the reef is mostly
  sandstone and limestone that was formed between
  two and five million years ago! Gray's Reef
  provides a home and foundation for hundreds of
  different species of plants and animals. Seaweed,
  algae and seagrass thrive on Gray's Reef.