Terms : Hide Images
| 152606283 | ecology | the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment | |
| 152606284 | organismal ecology | includes the subdisciplines of physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology, it is concerned with how these disciplines meet the challenges posed by its environment | |
| 152606285 | population | a group of individuals of the same species living in an area | |
| 152606286 | population ecology | analyzes factors that affect population size and how and why it changes over time | |
| 152606287 | community | a group of populations of different species in an area | |
| 152606288 | community ecology | examines how interactions between species, such as predation and competition, affect community structure and organization | |
| 152606289 | ecosystem | is the community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which those organisms interact | |
| 152606290 | ecosystem ecology | emphasizes energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and the environment | |
| 152606291 | landscape | it is the global ecosystem- the sum of all the planet's ecosystems and landscapes | |
| 152606292 | global ecology | examines how the regional exchange of energy and materials influences the functioning and distribution of organisms across the biosphere | |
| 152606293 | biotic | living | |
| 152606294 | abiotic | nonliving | |
| 152606295 | dispersal | the movement of individuals away from their area of origin or from centers of high population density | |
| 152606296 | climate | abiotic factors make up climate: temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind; it is the long-term prevailing weather conditions in a particular area | |
| 152606297 | macroclimate | patterns on the global, regional and local level | |
| 152606298 | microclimate | very fine patterns, such as those encountered by the community of organisms that live beneath a fallen log | |
| 152606299 | biomes | major terrestrial or aquatic life zones, characterized by vegetation type in terrestrial biomes or the physical environment in aquatic biomes | |
| 152606300 | photic zone | zone in the atmosphere, where there is sufficient light for photosynthesis | |
| 152606301 | aphotic zone | zone in the atmosphere, where little light penetrates | |
| 152606302 | benthic zone | the zone at the bottom of all aquatic biomes | |
| 152606303 | benthos | in the benthic zone, comunities of organisms are collectively called this, benthos | |
| 152606304 | detritus | a major source of food for many benthic species; it is dead organic matter | |
| 152606305 | abyssal zone | part of the benthic zone that lies between 2000 and 6000 m below the surface | |
| 152606306 | thermocline | a narrow layer of abrupt temperature change, it separates the more uniformly warm upper layer from the more uniformly cold deeper waters | |
| 152606307 | turnover | the semiannual mixing of waters in lakes as a result of changing temperature profiles; it brings oxygenated water from a lake's surface to the bottom and nutrient-rich water from the bottom to the surface in both spring and autumn | |
| 152606308 | oligotrophic lakes | are lakes that are nutrient-poor and generally oxygen-rich | |
| 152606309 | eutrophic lakes | are nutrient-rich and often depleted of oxygen | |
| 152606310 | littoral zone | the shallow, well-lighted waters close to shore; rooted and floating aquatic plants live in this area | |
| 152606311 | limnetic zone | away from the shore; inhabited by photoplankton and cyanobacteria | |
| 152606312 | wetland | a habitat that is inundated by water at least some of the time and that supports plants adapted to water-saturated soil | |
| 152606313 | estuary | a transition area between a river and the sea | |
| 152606314 | intertidal zone | land that is periodically submerged and exposed by the tides, twice daily on most marine shores | |
| 152606315 | oceanic pelagic zone | a vast realm of open blue water, constantly mixed by wind-driven oceanic currents | |
| 152606316 | coral reefs | are formed largly from the calcium carbonate skeletons of corals | |
| 152606317 | marine benthic zone | consists of the seafloor below the surface waters of the coastal, or neritic, zone and the offshore, pelagic zone | |
| 152606318 | neritic zone | coastal zone | |
| 152606319 | abyssal | organisms in the bery deep benthic zone; they are adapted to continuous cold (about 3C) and very high water pressure | |
| 152606320 | deep-sea hydrothermal vents | spouts hot water with dissolved suflate; some organisms live off of these | |
| 152606321 | disturbance | an event (such as a storm, fire, or human activity) that changes a community | |
| 152606322 | climograph | a plot of the temperature and precipitation in a particular region | |
| 152606323 | canopy | consists of the low-tree layer , the shrub understory, the ground layer of herbaceous plants, the forest floor (litter layer) and the root layer | |
| 152606324 | ecotone | the area of intergradation; it may be wide or narrow | |
| 152606325 | tropical rain forests | in these rainfall is relatively constant, about 200-400 cm annually | |
| 152606326 | deserts | these occur in bands near 30 degrees north and south latitures or other latitudes in the interior of continents (for example to Gobi deser of north central Asia) | |
| 152606327 | savanna | it is warm year-round, it is somewhat more seasonal than in tropical forests | |
| 152606328 | chapparal | a land type that is widespread in North America, Spain, and Chile, in souther France, and in South Africa | |
| 152606329 | temperate grasslands | includes plains and prairies of central North America | |
| 152606330 | northern coniferous forest | it is the largest biome in the world, edges the arcic tundra | |
| 152606331 | temperate broadleaf forest | has distinct vertical layers, including a closed canopy, one or two strata of understory trees a shrub layer, and an herbaceous stratum | |
| 152606332 | tundra | covers expansive areas of the Arctice, acounting for 20% of Earth's land surface | |
| 152606333 | permafrost | a permanantly frozen layer of soil; it restricts the growth of plants |
