Biomes
Most diverse and hottest terrestrial biome; biome near the equator with warm climate wet weather and lush plant growth
Tropical Rainforest
Consists of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and transpiration
Hydrologic/Water Cycle
Lizard hunting insects
Predation
Non-living things
Ex: Water, soil, minerals
Abiotic factors
When energy is passed in an ecosystem from one trophic level to the next, only ten percent of the energy will be passed on.
10% Rule
A biome characterized by low moisture levels and infrequent and unpredictable precipitation; daily and seasonal temperatures fluctuate widely; sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all
Desert
Conversion of nitrate into nitrous oxide and eventually nitrogen gas
Denitrification
Flowers and Bees
Mutualism
Groups of different species living together in a particular place with a potential for interacting with one another
Community
Interdisciplinary study that uses information and ideas from the physical sciences with those from the social sciences and humanities
Environmental Science
A grassland biome with scattered individual trees, large herbivores, and three distinct seasons based primarily on rainfall; maintained by occasional fires and drought
Savannah Grassland
This cycle involves an element that can be found in sedimentary rocks, volcanic ash, aerosols, and mineral dust
Phosphorus Cycle
Orchids growing on branches
Commensalism
A species that plays an important role in allowing the rest of the ecosystem to function
Keystone Species
Removal or addition of a top predator
Trophic cascade
Found along the California coast and the coast of the Mediterranean sea; characterized by hot summers and mild, rainy winters; dominated by fire-tolerant shrubs
Shrubland (Chaparral)
Nitrogen fixation
Aphids on a verbena plant
Parasitism
A group of living organisms of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes
Species
absorption of elements by plant roots or into animal tissue
assimilation
Biome with long, cold winters and small amounts of precipitation; characterized by a northern coniferous forest composed of pine, fir, hemlock, and spruce trees; acidic, mineral-poor topsoils
Taiga "Boreal" Forest
Process that moves the fourth most abundant element between plants, animals, and microbes, as well as minerals in the earth and the atmosphere
Carbon Cycle
Two Dholes fight over a carcass. (needs to be specific kind of this relationship)
Intraspecific competition
Biomes
The amount of energy leftover for consumers after plants have used some for respiration
Net Primary productivity