Final answer:
The four habitats distinguished by Cerling and his colleagues are forest, woodland, wooded grassland, and grassland, which fall under the classification of terrestrial biomes, with each having unique climate and dominant vegetation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The four different types of habitats distinguished by Cerling and his colleagues are forest, woodland, wooded grassland, and grassland. These habitats are part of broader categories known as terrestrial biomes, which are large ecological areas on the Earth's surface with distinct climate, plants, and animals. Terrestrial biomes include a variety of habitats such as tropical rainforests, savannas, deserts, temperate forests, boreal forests, and tundra, among others.
Different biomes have characteristic temperature ranges and amounts of precipitation. Their unique environmental conditions shape the vegetation and wildlife found within them. For example, forests are generally dominated by a canopy of trees, whereas grasslands are characterized by an abundance of grasses rather than large shrubs or trees.