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chapter 6
vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| biome | is a group of ecosystems that share similar abiotic and biotic conditions |
| climate | describes the average conditions, including temperature and precipitation, over long periods in a given area |
| weather | the day to day conditions in Earth's atmosphere like sunny and humid or cold and snowy |
| climatographs | to describe the conditions in a biome |
| net primary production | is the organic matter or biomass that remains after cellular respiration |
| canopy | that towers 50 to 80 meters above the ground |
| emergent layer | the tallest trees pop through the canopy and make up the top layer of the rain forest |
| understory | compete for available light |
| epiphytes | are plants that grow on other plants instead of in soil |
| deciduous | trees lose their leaves and stop photosynthesis during part of the year |
| estivation | when conditions are dry some animals enter a deep sleep like period of dormancy |
| coniferous | trees that produce seed bearing cones |
| hibernation | is a deep sleeplike state that an animal enters for most of the winter |
| permafrost | because of the cold climate underground soil remains frozen year round |
| salinity | measures the amount of salts dissolved in water |
| photic zone | the uppermost layer of an aquatic ecosystem where there is enough sunlight for photosynthesis |
| aphotic zone | where no sunlight penetrates and photosynthesis cannot occur |
| benthic zone | the very bottom of a body of water |
| littoral zone | the shallow near shore portion of the photic zone |
| limnetic zone | is farther from the shore where there are no rooted plants |
| wetlands | are areas of land that are flooded with water at least part of the year |
| flood plain | areas nearest a rivers course that are flooded periodically are |
| estuaries | are bodies of water partly enclosed by land |
| upwelling | the vertical flow of cold nutrient rich water toward the surface occurs where horizontal currents diverge or flow away from one another |