Pre-AP Ch. 4

7562830	weather	condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place
7562831	climate	average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region
7562832	greenhouse effect	natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases
7562833	polar zone	cold climate zone where the sun's rays strike Earth at a very low angle
7562834	temperate zone	moderate climate zone between the polar zones and the tropics
7562835	tropical zone	warm climate zone that receives direct or nearly direct sunlight year round
7562836	biotic factor	biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem
7562837	abiotic factor	physical or nonliving factor that shapes an ecosystem
7562838	habitat	area where an organism lives, including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it
7562839	niche	full range of physiological and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions
7562840	resource	any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space
7562841	competitive exclusion principle	ecological rule that states that no two species can occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time
7562842	predation	interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism
7562843	symbiosis	relationship in which two species live closely together
7562844	mutualism	symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit
7562845	commensalism	symbiotic relationship in which one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
7562846	parasitism	symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or on another organism (the host) and consequently harms it
7562847	ecological succession	gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance
7562848	primary succession	succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists
7562849	pioneer species	first species to populate an area during primary succession
7562850	secondary succession	succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil
7562851	biome	group of ecosystems that have the same climate and dominant communities
7562852	tolerance	organism's capacity to grow or thrive when subjected to an unfavorable environmental factor
7562853	microclimate	climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area
7562854	canopy	dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rainforest trees
7562855	understory	layer in a rain forest formed by shorter trees and vines
7562856	deciduous	tree that sheds its leaves during a particular season each year
7562857	coniferous	trees producing seed-bearing cones and have thin leaves shaped like needles
7562858	humus	material formed from decaying leaves and other decaying matter
7562859	taiga	biome in which the winters are cold but summers are mild enough to allow the ground to thaw
7562860	permafrost	layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the tundra
7562861	plankton	tiny, free-floating organisms that occur in aquatic ecosystems
7562862	phytoplankton	algae and other small, photosynthetic organisms found near the surface of the ocean and forming parts of plankton
7562863	zooplankton	tiny animals that form part of the plankton
7562864	wetland	ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year
7562865	estuary	wetland formed where rivers meet the ocean
7562866	detritus	particles of organic matter that provide food for organisms at the base of an estuary's food web
7562867	salt marsh	temperate-zone estuary dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low-tide line and by seagrasses unser water
7562868	mangrove swamp	coastal wetland dominated by mangroves, salt-tolerant woody plants
7562869	photic zone	well-lit upper layer of the oceans
7562870	aphotic zone	permanently dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone
7562871	zonation	prominant horizontal banding of organisms that live in a particular habitat
7562872	coastal ocean	marine zone that extends from the lowtide mark to the end of the continental shelf
7562873	kelp forest	coastal ocean community named for its dominant organism - kelp, a giant brown alga
7562874	coral reef	diverse and productive environment named for the coral animals that make up its primary structure
7562875	benthos	organisms that live attached to or near the ocean floor