| A | B |
|---|
| amount of water that condenses and falls as rain, snow, sleet, hail, and fog | precipitation |
| process of gradual change from one community of organisms to another | ecological succession |
| type of succession that begins in a place that does not have soil and has never supported living organisms | primary succession |
| large geographic areas with smiliar climates and ecosystems | biomes |
| permanently frozen soil | permafrost |
| microscopic organisms that float in water | plankton |
| area where freshwater meets the ocean | estuary |
| areas of land covered by shallow water | wetlands |
| determined by temperature and precipitation | climate |
| very cold, dry, treeless region found near the North Pole | tundra |
| portion of shoreline covered with water during high tide and exposed to air at low tide | intertidal zone |
| a community that has reached the final stage of ecological succession | climax community |
| type of succession in which a disturbed area returns to its previous condition | secondary succession |
| climax community dominated by grasses | grassland |
| climax community dominated by trees that lose their leaves every autumn | deciduous temperate forest |
| cold region of cone-producing evergreen trees | taiga |
| driest biome on Earth | desert |
| wet and warm biome near equator | tropical rain forest |
| one side of a mountain range receives very little precipitation | rain shadow |
| the first community of organisms to move into a new environment | pioneer community |
| biome that includes rivers, streams, lakes and ponds | freshwater biome |
| biome that includes the oceans, seas, and a few inland lakes | saltwater biome |
