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9th Bio Chpt 3
9th Grade Honors Biology Chapter 3
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Biosphere | part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere |
| Ecology | scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment |
| Species | a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring |
| Population | group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area |
| Community | assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area |
| Ecosystem | all the organisms that live in a place, together with their nonliving environment |
| Biotic Factor | any living part of the environment with which an organism might interact |
| Abiotic Factor | physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes the ecosystem |
| Climate | average year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in an area over a long period of time |
| Weather | day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, including temperature, precipitations, and other factors |
| Greenhouse Effect | the process in which certain gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor) trap sunlight energy in Earth's atmosphere as heat |
| Biome | a group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms |
| Canopy | dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain forester trees |
| Understory | layer in a rain forest found underneath the canopy formed by shorter trees and vines |
| Humus | material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter |
| Taiga | biome with long cold withers 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 | sunlit region near the surface of water |
| Aphotic Zone | dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone where sunlight does not penetrate |
| 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 |