Intro to Ecology + Biosphere
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| 4851568037 | Climate | Long term prevailing weather in a given area affected by temperature, precipitation, sunlight, and wind | 0 | |
| 4851568038 | Macroclimate | Patterns on a larger scale (i.e. globally, in a region or landscape, etc) | 1 | |
| 4851568039 | Microclimate | Localized patterns, can be as small as climate under a fallen log | 2 | |
| 4851568040 | Biome | Major life zone characterized by vegetation or physical environments | 3 | |
| 4851568041 | Climograph | Graph that visually charts the annual temperature and precipitation of biomes | 4 | |
| 4851568042 | Ecotone | Overlap or integration between two or more neighboring biomes | 5 | |
| 4851568043 | Disturbance | An event like a storm, fire, or human activity which changes a community by removing organisms or altering resource availability | 6 | |
| 4851568044 | Savannas | Characterized by grasses and trees, the dominate herbivores are insects like ants and termites. Fire is a dominant abiotic factor and though plant growth is substantial during the rainy season, regular drought causes large grazing animals to migrate | 7 | |
| 4851568045 | Desert | Characterized by sparse rainfall, plants and animals are adapted to conserve and store water and often have adapted defenses to avoid being eaten. Temperatures, both hot and cold, are extreme | 8 | |
| 4851568046 | Chaparral | Characterized by dense, spiny, evergreen shrubs. These coastal areas have mild rainy winters and long, hot, dry summers and plants are adapted to fires. | 9 | |
| 4851568047 | Temperate Grassland | Characterized by seasonal drought, occasional fires, and large grazing mammals; these factors limit tree growth. Soil is rich with nutrients and are good for agriculture | 10 | |
| 4851568048 | Temperate Broadleaf Forest | Characterized by dense strands of deciduous trees which require sufficient moisture, these forests are open and stratified (contain layers: one or two strata of trees, then shrubs, then herbaceous stratum). Trees drop leaves in fall and mammals hibernate while birds migrate | 11 | |
| 4851568049 | Canopy | The upper layers of trees in a forest | 12 | |
| 4851568050 | Coniferous Forest | Characterized by cone bearing trees like pine, spruce, and fir, the conifers prevent snowfall from accumulating on and then breaking the branches | 13 | |
| 4851568051 | Tundra | Characterized by permafrost, very cold temperatures, high winds, and little rainfall; there no trees or tall plants and it covers about 20% of land on earth | 14 | |
| 4851568052 | Tropical Forest | A forest with clear vertical stratification in which the canopy is very dense and lets little light through. They have epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants and not in soil). While rainfall varies, biodiversity is the highest here. | 15 | |
| 4851568053 | Upper Photic Zone | In an aquatic biome, has sufficient light for photosynthesis to occur | 16 | |
| 4851568054 | Lower Aphotic Zone | In an aquatic biome, little light penetrates | 17 | |
| 4851568055 | Pelagic Zone | Upper photic zone and lower aphotic zone combined | 18 | |
| 4851568056 | Abyssal Zone | The bottom of the aphotic zone, aproximately 2,000-6,000 m below the surface | 19 | |
| 4851568057 | Benthic Zone | Sand and inorganic sediment at the bottom of all aquatic biomes | 20 | |
| 4851568058 | Benthos | Organisms that live in benthic zones and feed off of any detritus that comes down from the photic zone | 21 | |
| 4851568059 | Thermocline | Layer of water that separates the warm upper layer from colder, deeper water | 22 | |
| 4851568060 | Turnover | Phenomenon in which oxygen rich surface waters gets cycled to the bottom while the nutrient rich bottom water comes upwards | 23 | |
| 4851568061 | Littoral Zone | Well lit shallow waters near the shore of a lake which contains rooted and floating aquatic plats | 24 | |
| 4851568062 | Limnetic Zone | Well lit open surface waters farther from the shore of a lake which is occupied by phytoplankton | 25 | |
| 4851568063 | Oligiotrophic Lakes | Deep lakes which are nutrient poor yet oxygen rich and contains sparse phytoplanton | 26 | |
| 4851568064 | Eutrophic Lakes | Shallow lakes which are nutrient rich yet oxygen poor and contain a high concentration of phytoplankton | 27 | |
| 4851568065 | Streams and Rivers | Bodies of water characterized by currents in which organisms are distributed in vertical zones from the headwaters to the mouth | 28 | |
| 4851568066 | Estuaries | Areas where freshwater streams merge with the ocean | 29 | |
| 4851568067 | Intertidal Zone | Where land meets water; periodically submerged and exposed by daily tides | 30 | |
| 4851568068 | Neritic Zone | Beyond the intertidal zone where shallow water exists over a continental shelf | 31 | |
| 4851568069 | Pelagic Biome | Vast realm of open blue water found past continental shelves | 32 | |
| 4851568070 | Coral Reef | Biome created by cnidarians which secrete hard calcium carbonate shells that support the growth of corals, sponges, and algae; most productive ecosystems on Earth | 33 | |
| 4851568071 | Dispersal | Movement of individuals and gametes away from the origin and center of population density; affected by geographical barriers and existing organisms who may be occupying available niches | 34 | |
| 4851568072 | Abiotic Factors | Temperature, water, oxygen, salinity, sunlight, rocks and soil | 35 | |
| 4851568073 | Organismal Ecology | How an organism's structure, physiology, and behavior meet the challenges posed by its environment | 36 | |
| 4851568074 | Population Ecology | Analysis of factors that affect population size and how and why it changes through time | 37 | |
| 4851568075 | Community Ecology | How interactions between species affect community structure and function | 38 | |
| 4851568076 | Ecosystem Ecology | Study of energy flow and chemical cycling between organisms and the environment | 39 | |
| 4851568077 | Landscape Ecology | Analysis of factors controlling exchanges of energy, materials, and organisms across multiple ecosystems | 40 | |
| 4851568078 | Biota | Animal and plant life | 41 | |
| 4851568079 | Ecology | Study of the interactions between organisms and the environment | 42 | |
| 4851568080 | Community | Group of populations of different species in one area | 43 | |
| 4851568081 | Ecosystem | Community of organisms in an area and the physical factors with which those organisms interact | 44 | |
| 4851568082 | Hadley Cells | large-scale vertical patterns of atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises near the equator, moves toward the poles, and cools and sinks around 30 degrees N or S latitude |  | 45 |
