Bio Ch. 52 An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere Flashcards

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