| A | B |
|---|
| weather | the day to day condition of the Earth’s atmosphere at a particular time and place |
| climate | the average, year after year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region |
| biotic factor | living factors in an ecosystem |
| abiotic factor | physical or nonliving factors in an ecosystem |
| habitat | the area where an organism lives |
| niche | full range of physical and biological conditions in which and organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions to survive |
| resource | any factor necessary for life, such as light, water, space, nutrients etc. |
| competition | no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time |
| predation | interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism |
| symbiosis | any relationship between two different species that live together closely |
| mutualism | symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit |
| commensalism | symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither benefited nor harmed |
| parasitism | symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is harmed |
| ecological succession | a series of predictable changes that occurs in a community over time where the older inhabitants die out and are replaced by new organisms |
| primary succession | beginning of changes in an ecosystem |
| pioneer species | the first species to successfully live in an area |
| secondary secondary succession | type of succession that occurs after a disturbance of some kind changes an existing community without removing the soil |
| biome | a complex terrestrial community covering a large area that is characterized by certain soil and climate conditions and houses particular groups of plants and animals |
| canopy | the dense leafy tops of trees extending from 50 to 80 feet above the floor of a forest |
| understory | second leafy layer of shorter trees in the shadow of the canopy |
| deciduous | trees that shed their leaves during a particular season each year |
| coniferous | trees that produce seed bearing cones and have needle shaped leaves |
| humus | rich material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter |
| taiga | dense northern evergreen forests |
| permafrost | layer of permanently frozen soil characteristic of the tundra |
| plankton | tiny free floating or weak swimming micro-organisms of aquatic environments |
| phytoplankton | single celled algae, the producers of most aquatic environments |
| zooplankton | simple animal like organisms that feed on the phytoplankton |
| estuary | wetlands formed where freshwater rivers meet saltwater seas |
| tropical rain forest | biome characterized by rainy humid warm climate all year long |
| desert | biome characterized by less than 25 cm of precipitation per year, temperatures may vary |
| temperate grassland | biome characterized by a rich mix of grasses and cold winters and warm summers |
| temperate forest | biome characterized by by mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees, warm summers and cold winters |
| coniferous forest | biome characterized by cold winters and short mild summers, main plants are conifers |
| tundra | biome characterized by permafrost, short cool summers, long cold winters |
| cooperation | interaction between organisms that is a benefit to both organisms within the same population or within different populations |
