H
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habitat – The area where a plant or animal naturally grows or lives.
habitat-specialist – Species that can only survive in a specific environment, such as those that rely on certain prey species, or only live on scree slopes.
headwaters – Small streams that are the source of a river, located at the most upstream part of a watershed.
heath forest – Forest dominated by shrubs of the plant family Ericaceae (such as blueberries or rhododendrons), often in open, high elevation areas with acidic and poorly drained soil.
herbaceous – Plants that do not have woody stems. Herbaceous plants are typically sun-loving, occupying fields, road-sides and clearings. Herbaceous plants include a wide variety of grasses and forbs (broad-leaf plants often referred to as wildflowers or weeds).
hornbills – (Order: Bucerotiformes) Hornbills are large, loud birds with large beaks, often with casques. The 54 species are found in the old world (Africa and Asia). They are found in many different habitats and have a wide diet. They are monogamous; the female seals herself into a tree cavity while she is nesting and relies solely on the male to feed her and the chick.
hotspot – The biodiversity hotspots are areas of the world that hold especially high numbers of endemic species and face extreme threats. To qualify as a hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world’s total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat. Over 50 percent of the world’s plant species and 42 percent of all terrestrial vertebrate species are endemic to the 34 biodiversity hotspots.
hutias – Hutias are large (4 kilograms) rodents of the West Indies. The 20 species of hutias are found in habitats on rocky outcrops and are social. They have a general vegetarian diet. Hunting, habitat loss and their naturally restricted range have left many hutia endangered.