Heathland at Woodbury Common, Devon (England). Purple flowers of Calluna vulgaris and yellow flowers of Ulex gallii

Heath landscape in the Stirling Range, Western Australia, with a dieback-infested valley in the mid ground

A heath or heathland is a shrubland habitat found mainly on low quality acidic soils, and is characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland. For example moorland has a very peaty topsoil, and it is also free-draining, whereas a heath is not^{[citation needed]}. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths^[1] with — especially in Great Britain — a cooler and damper climate.

Heaths are widespread worldwide. They form extensive and highly diverse communities across Australia in humid and sub-humid areas. Fire regimes with recurring burning are required for the maintenance of the heathlands.^[2] Even more diverse though less widespread heath communities occur in Southern Africa. Extensive heath communities can also be found in California-chaparral, New Caledonia, central Chile and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to these extensive heath areas, the vegetation type is also found in scattered locations across all continents, except Antarctica.

Characteristics[link]

Fynbos Heathland, South Africa.

Heathland is favoured where climatic conditions are typically warm and dry, particularly in summer, and soils acidic, of low fertility, and often sandy and very free-draining; mires do occur where drainage is poor, but are usually only small in extent. Heaths are dominated by low shrubs, 0.2–2 m tall.

Heath vegetation is extremely plant-species rich, and heathlands of Australia are home to some 3,700 endemic or typical species in addition to numerous less restricted species.^[3] The fynbos heathlands of South Africa are second only to tropical rainforests in plant biodiversity with over 7,000 species.^[4] In marked contrast the tiny pockets of heathland in Europe are extremely depauperate with a flora consisting primarily of heather (Calluna vulgaris), heath (Erica species) and gorse (Ulex species).

The bird fauna of heathlands are usually cosmopolitan species of the region.^[5][6] In the depauperate heathlands of Europe bird species tend to be more characteristic of the community and include Montagu's Harrier, and the Tree Pipit. In Australia the heathland avian fauna is dominated by nectar feeding birds such as Honey-eaters and lorikeets although numerous other birds from emus to eagles are also common Australian heathlands. Australian heathlands are also home to the world's only nectar feeding terrestrial mammal: the Honey Possum. The bird fauna of the South African fynbos includes sunbirds warblers and siskins. Heathlands are also an excellent habitat for insects including ants, moths, butterflies and wasps with many species being restricted entirely to it.

Anthropogenic heaths[link]

Lüneburg Heath, an anthropogenic heath in Lower Saxony, northern Germany

Anthropogenic heaths habitats are a cultural landscape that can be found worldwide in locations as diverse as northern and western Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and New Guinea.

These heaths were originally created or expanded by centuries of human clearance of the natural forest and woodland vegetation, by grazing and burning. In some cases this clearance went so far that parts of the heathland have given way to open spots of pure sand and sand dunes, with a very local desert climate that, even in Europe, can create local temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius in summer, drying the sand spot bordering the heathland and further raising its vulnerability for wildfires. Referring to heathland in England, Rackham says, "Heaths are clearly the product of human activities and need to be managed as heathland; if neglected they turn into woodland".^[7]

In recent years the conservation value of even these man-made heaths has become much more appreciated, and consequently most heathlands are protected. However they are also threatened by tree incursion because of the discontinuation of traditional management techniques such as grazing and burning that mediated the landscapes. Some are also threatened by urban sprawl. Anthropogenic heathlands are maintained artificially by a combination of grazing and periodic burning (known as Swailing^[8]), or (rarely) mowing; if not so maintained, they are rapidly re-colonised by forest or woodland. The re-colonising tree species will depend on what is available as the local seed source, and thus it may not reflect the natural vegetation before the heathland became established.

See also[link]

	Plants portal
	Environment portal

• Bolster heath
• California chaparral and woodlands
• Chalk heath
• Fynbos
• Garrigue
• Maquis shrubland
• Matorral
• Moorland
• Scrubland
• Shrubland

References[link]

1. ^ Polunin, Oleg; Walters, Martin (1985). A Guide to the Vegetation of Britain and Europe. Oxford University Press. p. 220. ISBN 0-19-217713-3. 
2. ^ Specht, R.L. 'Heathlands' in 'Australian Vegetation' R.H. Groves ed. Cambridge University Press 1988
3. ^ Specht, R.L. 'Heathlands' in 'Australian Vegetation' R.H. Groves ed. Cambridge University Press 1988
4. ^ WWF Ecoregion profile. Montane fynbos and renosterveld (AT1203) http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at1203_full.html
5. ^ WWF Ecoregion profile. Montane fynbos and renosterveld (AT1203) http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at1203_full.html
6. ^ Specht, R.L. 'Heathlands' in 'Australian Vegetation' R.H. Groves ed. Cambridge University Press 1988
7. ^ Rackham, Oliver (1997). The History of the Countryside. Phoenix. p. 282. 
8. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news/022001/23/swailing.shtml bbc.co.uk

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Heathland

• The Countryside Agency information on types of open land
• [1] Origin of the word `heath'

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The remaining fragmented habitats of the African Elephant.

A distribution map showing the range and breeding grounds of Great Black-backed Gulls.

A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits") is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism.^[1][2] It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds (influences and is utilized by) a species population.^[3]

Definition[link]

The term "population" is preferred to "organism" because, while it is possible to describe the habitat of a single turtle, it is also possible that one may not find any particular or individual bear but the grouping of bears that constitute a breeding population and occupy a certain biogeographical area. Further, this habitat could be somewhat different from the habitat of another group or population of black bears living elsewhere. Thus it is neither the species nor the individual for which the term habitat is typically used.

Microhabitat[link]

The term microhabitat is often used to describe the small-scale physical requirements of a particular organism or population.

Monotypic habitat[link]

The monotypic habitat occurs in botanical and zoological contexts, and is a component of conservation biology. In restoration ecology of native plant communities or habitats, some invasive species create monotypic stands that replace and/or prevent other species, especially indigenous ones, from growing there. A dominant colonization can occur from retardant chemicals exuded, nutrient monopolization, or from lack of natural controls such as herbivores or climate, that keep them in balance with their native habitats. The yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis, is a botanical monotypic-habitat example of this, currently dominating over 15,000,000 acres (61,000 km²) in California alone.^[4][5] The non-native freshwater zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, that colonizes areas of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, without its home-range predator control, is a zoological monotypic-habitat example.

Even though its name may seem to imply simplicity as compared with polytypic habitats, the monotypic habitat can be complex.^[6]

See also[link]

	Environment portal
	Ecology portal
	Earth sciences portal
	Biology portal

• Deforestation
• Habitat conservation
• Habitat destruction
• Habitat fragmentation
• Habitat garden
• Natural landscape
• Natural resource
• Passenger Pigeon

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up habitat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article habitat.

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Human habitats

Steve Berra (born May 10, 1973) is an American professional skateboarder.

Career[link]

Steve Berra began his skateboarding career in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 14.^[1] In 1989, Steve Berra met skating legend Tony Hawk in Nebraska. The two forged a friendship over their love for all things skateboarding. At the age of 18,Berra quit his affiliation with Blockhead to turn pro for and start Birdhouse Skateboards, along with Hawk, Jeremy Klein, and Willy Santos.^[2] While with Birdhouse, the 23-year-old Hawk counseled Berra on many things, leading to his initial forays into acting. In 1992, Berra left Birdhouse Skateboards, a move he admits, was due to being "young, misunderstood, and silly."^[3] Several months later, Berra joined the Foundation Skateboards team, skating in their 1993 video Super Conductor Super Collider.^[3]

In 1998, Berra teamed up with Birdhouse Skateboards again to create the best-selling skateboarding video of all time, The End.^[4] In one of the most notable scenes of the movie, Berra's death is simulated with a shot of his decapitation, filmed with the aid of a professional-quality dummy.^[5]

Soon there after, Berra left Birdhouse Skateboards to join Alien Workshop, which he was later kicked off of for not skating enough.

In 2003, Berra struggled with severe ankle pain that kept him from skating for most of the year, and forced him to have reconstructive surgery in January 2004.^[6]

Berra has been featured in MTV shows Rob & Big and Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory. Season 2, Episode 6 of Rob & Big revolves around the Tampa Pro professional skateboarding competition. Berra and Rob Dyrdek engage in a $5,000 bet to "up the ante" of the competition.^[7] In Season 2, Episode 8 of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, titled "The Berrics vs. Fantasy Factory", Dyrdek pitted his own Fantasy Factory skate park against Koston and Berra's The Berrics' skate park.^[8]

Today, Steve Berra does a majority of his skateboarding at his skate park, The Berrics.

Steve Berra's sponsors include Alien Workshop,Venture Trucks, DC Shoes, and Active.^[9] Berra and Alien Workshop have teamed up to create several signature decks and wheels. He currently uses the Berra "Berrics II" deck, and Berra 50mm "Strobe" wheels.^[10]

The Berrics[link]

The Berrics is the brainchild of Berra and close friend and fellow pro skater Eric Koston. Together, they created The Berrics, a private skatepark named after the duo (Berra + Eric = Berrics). The private "training facility," located in Los Angeles, gained notoriety as a skater's "mecca." In 2009, ESPN skateboarding contributor Chris Nieratko gained entrance to the skate park, reporting on the ultra-exclusive warehouse-turned-skate park and its cardinal rule: "you have to film while you're skating The Berrics."^[11] The footage is later posted on The Berrics' content-laden website, TheBerrics.com. TheBerrics.com has grown to one of skateboarding's most popular Web sites in only a few months. "In January, the site had more unique visitors than sites for all of the major skateboarding magazines, and ESPN.com's action sports page, according to comScore, a market research firm."^[5]

After winning in the "The Berrics vs The Fantasy Factory" episode of Fantasy Factory on MTV, Rob Dyrdek was forced to add a statue of Koston and Berra to the Fantasy Factory with the inscription "We are the inspiration behind the Fantasy Factory." Berra was initially upset about the inscription because "you don't know who 'we' refers to" but laughed it off as he left the factory. After Berra leaves Rob Dyrdek and his cousin Chris 'Drama' Pfaff put the statue at the top of the twelve foot quarter pipe that is in the factory and proceed to push it off in protest to a questionable rap battle between CC and Berra. As it crashes to the floor Dyrdek is heard saying "they are pro skateboarders, I thought for sure they would make that." ^[12]

In 2009, Skateboarding company DVS Shoe Company hosted a skateboarding competition at The Berrics, pitting 32 skaters against each other in a "March Madness" style SKATE battle called the Battle at the Berrics. Competitors included Berra and Eric Koston themselves, as well as skating notables Rob Dyrdek, Andrew Reynolds, Jeron Wilson, Mike Carroll, Arto Saari, Marc Johnson, Erik Ellington, Bryan Herman, PJ Ladd, and Sean Malto, among others.^[13] True to The Berrics' m.o., all of the footage was collected and displayed at theberrics.com. The first winner of the Battle at the Berrics was Mike Mo Capaldi, an 18-year-old pro skater sponsored by Girl Skateboard Company.^[14] For his efforts, Mike Mo was awarded a $10,000 prize courtesy of DVS Shoe Company.^[15]

Battle at the Berrics 2 began in June, 2009. The second installment of Battle at the Berrics allowed fans to choose 32 skaters, of more than 150 potential skaters, to participate in the event.^[16] Chris Cole won the Battle at the Berrics 2 competition, and Paul Rodriguez Jr. came in second. Upon winning second place, Paul Rodriguez donated his second place winnings of $5000 to the Nick Mullins Fund.^[17]

Battle at the Berrics 3 was won by Paul Rodriguez, with PJ Ladd coming in second.

Battle at the Berrics 4 was dubbed US versus Them as half of the 32 skaters were non-American.^[18]. A Canadian pro skater Morgan Smith won this event followed by an American PJ Ladd in second place. ^[19]

An on-going, fifth Battle at the Berrics is dubbed as Civil War. ^[20]

Acting[link]

Berra has maintained an interest in acting since the age of 18.^[21] He was a series regular on the short-lived Fox drama 413 Hope St., portraying Quentin Jefferson, a young man infected with HIV.^[22] Berra has also held brief roles in the television shows Felicity and Nash Bridges, as well as a minor role in the 1999 film Anywhere but Here.^[23]

Since the age of 18, Berra has juggled his interests in skateboarding and acting, although he maintains that skateboarding has always been his primary passion.^[21]

In the winter of 2006, Berra began his role as director of The Good Life, a film he penned starring Mark Webber, Zooey Deschanel, Bill Paxton, Harry Dean Stanton, Chris Klein, Patrick Fugit, Drea de Matteo and Donal Logue. On his website, Berra acknowledged: "it had been my "other woman" for many years, but because of my commitments as a professional skateboarder I couldn't pursue it 100%."^[24] The film was coined "a coming-of-age tale set in Lincoln, Nebraska, portrayed as a grim town of vacant lots, shuttered buildings, sidewalk drug dealers and deep poverty, all accented by overcast skies." It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, receiving a positive reception.^[25]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Steve Berra's website
• The Berrics
• What the Pros Are Rockin': Steve Berra
• Horn, John. "SUNDANCE PREVIEW; A lot riding on this one; A skateboarder turned filmmaker launches his first big project, `The Good Life.'" Los Angeles Times [California] 17 Jan. 2007. Print.

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Stefan Janoski (born July 18, 1979) is a professional skateboarder. His hometown is Vacaville, CA and currently resides in Sacramento, CA. He began skateboarding in 1992 and went professional in 2003. He is known for his 360 flips and his ability to skate switch. Especially his switch kickflips. He is the third person on Nike SB to have a pro model shoe, the Zoom Stefan Janoski. He was selected to be a part of the Battle At The Berrics 2 at The Berrics. He is of Macedonian descent.

Current sponsors[link]

• Habitat Skateboards
• Analog Clothing
• Nike SB
• Venture Trucks
• Liberty Boardshop
• FKD Bearings

External links[link]

• http://www.411vm.com/skaters/Stefan_Janoski/316/
• http://www.libertyboardshop.com/liberty/dept.asp?dept_id=2780
• http://www.analogclothing.com/Team/skate/default.aspx
• http://www.habitatskateboards.com/team/pro/stefan%2Bjanoski
• Interview with Submerge Magazine, July 2009
• http://www.nike.com/nikeskateboarding/stefanjanoski/

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Brian Wenning (born 1981 in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey) is a professional skateboarder formerly affiliated with Plan B Skateboards,^[1] Habitat Skateboards, and DC Shoes.^[2] He has appear on ESPN.com and in several skating magazines.^[3][4][5]

References[link]

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