click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Biology chapter 4
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Weather | day-to -day conditions of the atmosphere, including temperature, precipitation, and other factors |
Climate | average year - to - year conditions of temperature and precipitation in an area over a long period of time |
Microclimate | environmental conditions within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area |
Greenhouse effect | process in which certain gases trap sunlight in earths atmosphere as heat |
Tolerance | ability of an organism to survive and reproduce under circumstances that differ from their optimal conditions |
Habitat | where an organism lives, including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it |
Niche | full range of physical and biological conditions i which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions |
Resource | any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients,light ,food, or space |
Competitive exclusion | principle that states that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time |
Predation | interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism |
Herbivory | interaction in which one animal feeds on producers |
Keystone species | single species that is not usually abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on the structure of a community |
Symbiosis | relationship in which two species live close together |
Mutualism | symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship |
Parasitism | symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it |
Commensalism | symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed |
Ecologial succession | series of gradual changes that occur in a community following a disturbance |
Primary succession | succession that occurs in an area in which no trace of a previous community is present |
Pioneer species | first species to populate an area during succession |
Secondary succession | type of succession that occurs in an area that was only partially destroyed by disturbances |
Canopy | dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rainforest trees |
Understory | layer in a rainforest found underneath the canopy formed by shorter trees and vines |
Deciduous | dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain forest trees |
Coniferous | term used to refer to trees that produce seed - bearing cones and have thin leaves shaped like needles |
Humus | material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter |
Taiga | biome with long cold winters and a few months of warm weather; dominated by coniferous evergreens; also called boreal forest |
Permafrost | layer of permanently frozen subsoil found in the tundra |
Photic zone | sunlight region near the surface of water |
Aphotic zone | dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone where sunlight does not penetrate |
Benthos | organisms that live attached to or near the bottom of lakes, streams, or oceans |
Plankton | microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments; includes both phytoplankton and zooplankton |
Wetland | ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface for at least part of the year |
Estuary | kind of wetland formed where a river meets the ocean |