How does temperature influence the distribution of organism?

Influence of temperature on distribution of organisms

• different animal species require different optimum temperatures for their reproductive stages (breeding). Thus, temperatures impose a restriction on the distribution of species-based reproduction preference.
• Animals like camel that are tolerant to high temperature can survive in deserts whiles others cannot, so live in cooler places
•  Endotherms such mammals and bird that maintain their body temperatures, have wide distribution in different environment condition compared to ectoderm such as reptiles that cannot regulate their body temperature.
• Temperature also influence the geographical distribution of animals through its effect on plants as primary producers in a food chains. The ecological range of most animal species, except insects, birds and mammals which are able to migrate, is determined by the local availability of food.
• Temperate plants are distributed in cool regions whose temperature do not usually exceed 25⁰C while plants such as xerophytes that can withstand higher temperatures are more abundant in the tropics and deserts where temperatures are usually above 25⁰C.
• C₄ plants have a wide distribution range in hot climatic regions because, they are more efficient at fixing carbon dioxide at high temperatures. On the other hand, C₃ plants, which fix carbon dioxide more efficiently at lower temperature, are more abundant in cooler climatic regions.
• Some aquatic plants can withstand very high temperatures and can thrive in hot springs while those that can with stand very low temperatures thrive in snow. The biggest percentage of plants survive in moderate temperatures which support their metabolic activities.

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