Explore the world's natural habitats and the plants and animals. From the depths of the ocean to soaring mountain peaks—via coral reefs, deserts, rainforests, and even cityscapes—discover how unexpected wildlife partnerships make up the habitats plants and animals call home. Each habitat section starts with a fascinating illustration to explain how it works, exploring the combination of conditions, plants, and animals that make it up. It then delves deeper, telling stories about how the inhabitants interact and find their place in each habitat. Survival strategies can be extreme, including frogs that can survive frozen through winter to emerge unharmed in spring. Vying for resources, plants and animals can work together in intimate partnerships, engage in direct competition—fighting tooth and nail over resources—or adapt in particular ways to find their own niche that only they can exploit. These intricately balanced systems create an incredible and fascinating variety of life on our planet. Earth's pristine wildernesses are dwindling, so the book includes national parks, wildlife reserves, and other protected areas and the conservation efforts needed to preserve our precious biological diversity.