What Is the Importance of Kingdom Animalia?
Kingdom Animalia, which contains all animals, is important because of the role of animals in the various chemical cycles in the environment and because their mobility allows materials to be distributed more quickly through the environment. Much of the evolution of producers, such as plants and algae, has depended on the influence of animals.
According to the Sidwell Friends School, animals have a profound impact on all other forms of life on earth. Animals influence the composition of the atmosphere, consuming oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. As the largest mobile organisms on earth, they even affect the landscape around them. Many animals dig burrows, while beavers dam rivers to create ponds and elephants dig up underground water sources. Humans are also considered animals and no other animal has done more to change the makeup of the Earth’s surface.
Plants, in particular, show the profound influence animals have had on life. Flowering plants evolved to depend on insect or other animal pollinators. Many plants also rely on animals to disperse their seeds. On the other hand, defensive features, such as thorns and poison leaves, evolved to defend against animals. Certain biomes, such as grasslands, depend on animals for their maintenance, since without them grasses would be overtaken by larger plants more quickly.
