Ecology
What is a population?
members of a species that live in the same area at the same time
What is a biome?
a group of ecosystems that share similar biotic and abiotic conditions
What is the highest layer of the rainforest?
Emergent Layer
What is Salinity?
the measure of the amount of salt dissolved in water
What are nutrients?
matter that organisms require for their life processes
What is an Abiotic factor?
Part of an ecosystem that has never been living
What is the weather of an area?
the day to day conditions in the earth's atmosphere
What is Hibernation?
a deep-sleeplike state that an animal enters for most of the winter
What is the photic zone of the ocean?
the upper layer of the ocean
where there is enough light for photosynthesis to take place
What is an Aquifer?
layers of rock and soil that hold groundwater
What is ecology?
the study of how organisms interact with each other and the environment
What is an Epiphyte?
a specialized plant that grows on other plants instead of soil in order to gain access to sunlight
What is estivation?
a sleeplike period of dormancy some animals undergo to cope with a lack of water
What is a wetland?
an area of land that is flooded with water for at least part of the year
What is a Sink? (Ex. a carbon sink)
a reservoir of a substance that accepts more of that substance than it releases
Ex. a forest, the ocean, or plants in general
What is a community?
All the populations within a particular area
the environment is not taken into consideration
What is the climate of an area?
the climate describes the average conditions, including temperature and precipitation, over long periods in a given area
What is a Coniferous tree?
Trees that do not lose their leaves annually
"Evergreen Trees"
What is a floodplain?
the area's nearest a river's course that are flooded periodically
what is eutrophication?
the addition of phosphorous to bodies of water than can lead to an overgrowth of producers (ex. algae bloom)
What is an Ecosystem?
all the living things and their physical environments within a particular area
What is permafrost?
the permanent freezing of soil due to the cold climate
What is a Deciduous Tree?
Trees that lose all their leaves and stop photosynthesis during part of the year
What is an Estuary?
a body of water partially enclosed by land, that occurs where fresh water drains out into the ocean or inland sea
What is Nitrogen Fixation?
the conversion of nitrogen gas into ammonia