| A | B |
|---|
| ecology | the study of ecosystems |
| ecosystem | grouping of plants and aninmals which interact with each other and the environment |
| photosynthesis | the process plants use to convert sunlight and make their own food with chlorophyl |
| food chain | chain of organisms where consumers eat other consumers or producers |
| consumers | eat plants and animals in next level of food chain |
| pollution | contamination of the environment |
| nonpointsource pollution | hard to identify because there are many sources |
| pointsource pollution | comes from a specific source |
| stormwater runoff | water that washes over land, picks up nonpoint source pollution and ends up in our streams |
| hydrologic cycle | process hy which water in the environment is recycled and purified |
| evaporation | when bodies of water are warmed and turned from a liquid to a gas |
| condensation | when the temp. falls, water vapor turns back into a liquid |
| precipitation | rain, snow, sleet, (falling water) |
| transpiration | when plants release water through their leaves |
| watershed | all of the land area which drains to a partic. body of water |
| streambank | the areas of land which lie directly beside the flowing water |
| main channel | the area where the actual water flows |
| floodplain | strips of land next to the streambank which are able to contain the extra water present in the stream during heavy rainstorms |
| riparian buffer | vegetated strips of land along the side of the stream |
| pool | areas with deep, slow moving water which provide important feeding and resting areas for fish and other aquatic dwellers such as turtles and frogs |
| riffle | the part of the stream that flows more rapidly, are very shallow and contain more oxygen |
| macroinvertebrate | an animal without a backbone that can be seen without a microscope |
| food web | two or more food chains that are connected |
| decomposition | when an animal dies it breaks down and becomes fertilizer |
