Unit 4 Flashcards
Interspecific interactions
A relationship between individuals of two or more species in a community
Intraspecific interactions
Occur within a population
Ecology
Study of interactions between organisms and their environment
Conservation biology
Study of the protection, management, and recovery of biodiversity
Environmental biology
Study of the impacts of human activities on the environment (use of fossil fuels, water use, agriculture, urbanization, use of pesticides).
Aspect
(Direction the slope of a mountain or hill faces). Affects sunlight and temperature influencing plants and animals that live there
Biomes
Groupings by similar vegetation structure and look and associated with certain types of animals and abiotic features (desert, tropical rain forest).
Estuary
Transition zone between river and open ocean
Tropical rain forest
A terrestrial biome characterized by relatively high precipitation and temperatures year round
Epiphyte
A plant that nourishes itself but grows on the surface of another plant for support, usually on branches or trunks of trees
Savanna
A tropical grassland biome with scattered individual trees and large herbivores and maintained by occasional fires and drought.
Fauna
Animals, often includes large migratory herbivores
Desert
A terrestrial biome characterized by very low precipitation
Chaparral
A scrubland biome of dense, spiny evergreen shrubs found at midlatitudes along coasts where cold ocean currents circulate offshore. Characterized by mild, rainy winters and long, hot, dry summers
Temperate grassland
A terrestrial biome that exists at midlatitudes regions and is dominated by grasses and forbs
Temperate broadleaf forest
A biome located throughout midlatitudes regions where there is sufficient moisture to support the growth of large, broadleaf deciduous trees
Ecotone
When two biomes meet and blend into each other
Northern coniferous forest (taiga)
A terrestrial biome characterized by long, cold winters and dominated by cone-bearing trees
Tundra
A terrestrial biome at the extreme limits of plant growth. Arctic (northernmost limits), alpine (high altitudes where plants form)
Permafrost
Deep soil is permanently frozen
Aquatic biomes
Cover majority of the earths surface. Mostly ocean (75%)
Photic zone
The narrow top layer of an ocean or lake, where light penetrates sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur.
Aphotic
The part of an ocean or lake beneath the photic zone, where light does not penetrate sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur
Benthic zone
The bottom surface of an aquatic environment