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Ecology 2
Ecology chapter 2 vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
producer | an organism that can make its own food |
consumer | an organism that obtains energy by eating only animals |
herbivore | a consumer that obtains energy by only eating plants |
carnivore | a consumer that obtains energy by only eating animals |
omnivore | a consumer that obtains energy by eating both plants and animals |
scavenger | a carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead or decaying animals |
food chain | the series of events in an ecosystem in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten. |
food web | the pattern of overlapping feeding relationships or food chains among the various organisms in an ecosystem |
decomposer | an organism that gets energy by breaking down biotic wastes and dead organisms and returns |
energy pyramid | a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web |
evaporation | The process by which molecules of liquid water absorbs energy and changes to a gas |
condensation | The process by which a gas changes to liquid |
precipitation | rain, snow, sleet, or hail |
nitrogen fixation | The process of changing free nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds that plants can absorb and use |
biome | A group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms |
climate | The average annual conditions of temps, precipitation, winds, and clouds in an area. |
desert | A dry region that on an average receives less than 25 centimeters per year |
rain forest | A forest that at least 2 meters of rain per yer mostly occuring in the tropical wet climate zone |
emergent layer | The tallest that receives the most sunlight of the rainforest layer |
canopy | A leafy roof formed by tall trees in a rain forest |
understory | A layer of shorter trees and vines that grow in the shade of a forest canopy |
grassland | An area populated mostly by grasses and other nonwoody plants that receives 25 to 75 centimeters of rain per year |
savanna | A grassland located close to the equator that may include shrubs and small trees and receives as much as 120 centimeters of rain per year |
deciduous trees | A tree that sheds its leaves durring a particular seasonand grows new ones each year |
boreal forest | Dense forest of evergreens located in the upper regions of the Northern hemisphere |
coniferous tree | A tree that produces its seeds in cones and that has a needle shaped leaf coated in a waxy substance that reduces water loss |
tundra | An extremely cold dry biome climate region characterized by short cool summers and bitterly cold winters |
permafrost | permanently frozen soil found in the tundra biome climate region |
neritic zone | the area of the ocean that extends from the low-tide line out to the edge of the continental shelf |
intertidal zone | An area between the highest high-tide line on land to point on the continental shelf exposed by the lowest low-tide line |
estuary | A kind of wetland formed where freshwater from rivers mixes with salt water from oceans |
biogeography | The study of where organisms live and how they got there |
dispersal | The movement of organisms from one place to another |
exoitic species | Species that are carried to a new location by people |
continental drift | A hypothesis that the continents slowly move across the Earth's surface. |
Hi ____ you're doing great | Abby |