Preface

The word "habitat" can have different meanings, depending on the field of study. However, in the most common sense of the word, the first thought associated with it is related to nature. However, even "nature" can be seen in different ways, but it cannot be separated from living beings and their living conditions. For these reasons, this book includes chapters on habitats under different aspects. Obviously, the main actors that we will find in them are the living beings (plants and animals in particular) that live in different parts of the Earth, but also the chemichal and physical characteristics of their habitats.

After an introductory chapter (**Habitats of the World**), the book begins with two chapters on habitats in Europe. Habitats in the European Union are protected thanks to Council Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitat Directive), adopted for the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna. With the first chapter, the reader will have the opportunity to read about the problems related to the intensive loss of the priority habitat for *Gymnosporia senegalensis* (Lam.) Loes. [= *Maytenus senegalensis* (Lam.) Exell] in Spain. The second chapter deals with the topic of deviation from grazing optimum in the grassland habitats within and outside the Natura 2000 Network in Romania. Moving from Europe to Africa, the current problem of habitat loss continues to be deepened through the case of the Niger Delta mangroves in Nigeria. Habitat loss and conversion can lead to the extinction of mangrove forests in this region. In Asia, in particular Iran, researchers have modeled the potential distribution areas and determined the suitable habitats in the past and their current distribution for two species of snake-eyed skinks (*A. grayanus* and *A. pannonicus*). Remaining in Asia, an important case related to the floods in Korail, the largest informal settlement in Dhaka (Bangladesh), is presented. In it, authors define a "wetslum" as a specific human habitat, consisting of a slum where a considerable correlation between flooding and living conditions exists: for this reason, specific environmental and locational management for wetslums are required. Not only water, but also wind and temperature are important factors that condition a habitat. In another chapter, a case study in the Southeast peninsular of India shows the differences in thermal and dynamical characteristics and energetics of the atmosphere between wet and dry spells of the Indian summer monsoon in this region. The book ends with a chapter on the effects that "disturbed habitats" have on domestic and wild animals, focusing on pathological modifications that can derive from these disturbed habitats.

The editor would like to express his thanks to the co-editors Ana Cano Ortiz and Ricardo Quinto Canas, the Author Service Manager Sandra Maljavac and all the authors of the chapters for their support and their contributions to the publication of this book.

**II**

**Chapter 7 103**

**Chapter 8 127**

*by Maria Teresa Capucchio, Elena Colombino, Martina Tarantola, Davide Biagini, Loris Giovanni Alborali, Antonio Marco Maisano, Federico Scali, Federica Raspa, Emanuela Valle, Ilaria Biasato, Achille Schiavone, Cristian Salogni, Valentina Bar,* 

Wet and Dry Spells over Southeast Peninsular India

The Disturbed Habitat and Its Effects on the Animal Population

*by Mohana S. Thota*

*Claudia Gili and Franco Guarda*

**Carmelo Maria Musarella, PhD** Department of Agriculture (AGRARIA), Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy
