| A | B |
|---|
| weather | day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, including temperature, precipitation, and other facotrs |
| climate | average year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in an area over a long period of time |
| microclimate | envoronmental conditions within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area |
| greenhouse effect | process in which certain gases ( carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor) trap sunlight energy in Earth's atmosphere as heat |
| tolerance | ability of an organism to survive and reproduce under circumstances that differ from their optimal conditions |
| habitat | area where an organism lives, including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it |
| niche | full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and teh way in which the organism uses those conditions |
| resource | any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, lights, food, or space |
| competitive exclusion principle | principle that states that 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 |
| herbivory | interaction in which one animal feeds on producers |
| keystone species | single species that is not usually abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on the structure of a community |
| symbiosis | relationship in which two species live close together |
| mutualism | symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship |
| parasitism | symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or inside another organism and harms it |
| commensalism | symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed |
| ecological succession | series of gradual changes that occur in a community following a distrubance |
| primary succession | succession that occurs in an area in which no rtace of a previous community is present |
| pioneer species | first species to populate an area during succession |
| secondary succession | type of succession that occurs in an area that was only partially destroyed by disturbances |
| canopy | dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain forest trees |
| understory | layer in a rain forest found inderneath the canopy formed by shorter trees and vines |
| deciduous | term used to refer to a type of tree that sheds its leaves during a particular season each year |
| coniferous | term used to refer to trees that produce seedbearing cones and have thin leaves shaped like needles |
| humus | material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter |
| taiga | biome with long cold winters and a few months of wearm weather; dominated by coniferous evergreens; also called boreal forest |
| permafrost | layer of permanently frozen subsoil found in the tundra |
| photic zone | sunlight region near teh surface of water |
| aphotic zone | dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone where sunlight does not penetrate |
| benthos | organisms that live attached to or near the bottom of lakes, streams, or oceans |
| plankton | microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments; includes both phytoplankton and zooplankton |
| wetland | ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface for at least part of the year |
| estuary | kind of wetland formed where a river meets the ocean |
