| A | B |
|---|
| Climate | the average year after year temperature and precipitation in a particular region |
| Greenhouse Effect | the natural situation in which heat is retained by a layer of greenhouse gases |
| Polar Zone | cold areas where the sun’s rays strike the earth at a very low angle |
| Tropical Zone | area near the equator between 23.5N and 23.5S latitudes |
| Biotic Factor | the biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem |
| Abiotic Factor | physical or non-living factors that shape ecosystems |
| Habitat | the area where an organism lives |
| Niche | the full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way anorganism uses those conditions |
| Resource | any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space |
| Competitive Exclusion Principle | no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time |
| Symbiosis | any relationship in which two species live closely together |
| Mutualism | both species benefit from the relationship |
| Commensalism | one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed |
| Parasitism | one organism lives on or in another organism and harms it |
| Ecological Succession | the series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time |
| Primary Succession | succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists |
| Pioneer Species | the first species to populate the area |
| Secondary Succession | when a disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing the soil |
