| A | B |
|---|
| Climate is the average, year-to-year, conditions of ____ and ____ in a certain area. | temperature and precipitation |
| ______ is the average, year-to-year, conditions of temperature and precipitation in a certain area. | Climate |
| The natural trapping of heat energy by gases in the Earth’s atmosphere is known as ____. | the greenhouse effect,  |
| Name three greenhouse gases, starting with the one blamed for most of current global warming. | Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor |
| What does this picture depict? (If you can't see it well, you probably didn't open up the flashcards as NON-JAVA), | The greenhouse effect, |
| What are the three global climate zones, starting with the warmest and ending with the coldest? | Tropical, temperate, polar |
| Heat is moved away from the tropics by which two methods? | Wind and ocean currents |
| Wind and ocean currents are caused by the fact that warm fluids ____ and cool fluids _____. | rise, sink |
| The climate on the side of a mountain range getting hit by prevailing winds is ______ than the climate on the other side of the mountain range. | wetter,  |
What are these lines called?,  | lines of latitude, |
| The living things that help shape an ecosystem are known as _________. | biotic factors |
| The non-living things that help shape an ecosystem are known as _______. | abiotic factors |
| An organism's ______ is where it lives and includes both biotic and abiotic factors. | habitat |
| An organism's ____ is kind of like it's job, and includes the way in which an organism eats, finds shelter, and reproduces as well as the physical conditions required by the organism to survive. | niche, 
|
| Two different species ______ share the same niche in the same habitat. | can't |
| Any necessity for life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, and space, are referred to as a _____. | resource |
| The rule in ecology that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time is known as the ____. | competitive exclusion principle |
| ______ occurs when organisms of the same or different species attempt to use an ecological resource in the same place at the same time. | Competition |
| The type of interaction where one organism captures and eats another organism is known as _____. | predation |
| The type of relationship in which two different species of organisms live closely together is called ____. | symbiosis,
|
| Name the three types of symbiotic relationships.,
| mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism |
| The type of symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit is called ____.,
| mutualism,
|
| The type of symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits while the other species is neither helped nor harmed is called ___.,
| commensalism,
|
| The type of symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits at the expense of the other is called ____.,
| parasitism,
|
| Fleas, ticks, lice and tapeworms are examples of ____. | parasites,
|
| The organism that a parasite lives on or in is called the ____. | host |
| The series of predictable changes that occur in an ecosystem as it ages is called ____. | ecological succession,  |
| The type of succession that starts from scratch (like on bare rock or ash) is called ____. | primary succession,  |
| The first species to populate an area that previously had no signs of life is called the ____. | pioneer species |
| The type of ecological succession that occurs after a forest fire, or when farmland is abandoned, is called _____ | secondary succession,  |
| The final community of organisms, after the ecosystem has gone through succession and become stabilized, is called the ____. | climax community |
| Climate conditions in a small area that differ significantly from the climate of the surrounding area are called ___. | microclimates |
| Which biome is characterized by very low temperatures, little precipitation, and permafrost? | Tundra,  |
| Which two biomes have the least amount of precipitation? | Desert and tundra |
| A biome is identified by its particular set of abiotic factors and its ___. | characteristic plant and animal communities |
| Palm trees and shrubs around a small pool of water in the middle of a barren desert is an example of ____. | a microclimate |
| Which type of tropical forested biome is characterized by a wet season and a dry season? | Tropical dry forest |
| Tall, perennial grasses and herds of grazing herbivores are inhabitants of the _______ biome. | tropical savanna and temperate grassland |
| Mild, moist air from the Pacific Ocean and giant redwood trees characterize the _____. | northwestern coniferous forest (also known as temperate rainforests),  |
Desert biomes vary greatly in temperature but are always defined as having less than _____ cm of rainfall per year.,  | 25 cm |
| Which type of biome is characterized by thin, nutrient-poor soils? | tropical rainforest,  |
| What adaptation do trees in the tropical rainforest have to deal with the soils they grow on? | Trees in the tropical rainforest have shallow roots that spread out along the ground to get nutrients from the nutrients poor soil before the nutrients are washed away by the heavy rainfall. |
| What do we call the layer in the tropical rainforest that blocks out most of the light from hitting the ground? | The forest canopy (tree tops that spread out like umbrellas),  |
| How do trees in a tropical dry forest conserve water during the dry season? | They drop their leaves to avoid evapotranspiration. |
| What do you call trees that drop their leaves on an annual basis? | Deciduous trees,  |
| Name two things that keep savannas and temperate grasslands from undergoing succession and turning into forests. | Fires and large herds of grazing herbivores |
| Which biome is home to the most different types of species on Earth? | Tropical Rainforests |
Which type of biome is pictured below?,  | Boreal forest (a.k.a. - Taiga). Notice it's all conifers., |
Which type of biome is pictured below?,  | Desert. (I chose this photo to show that deserts aren't always hot. Often times, deserts are found on the lee side of a mountain range in the mountains rainshadow), |
Which type of biome is pictured below?,  | Tropical Savanna, |
Which type of biome is pictured below?,  | Tundra (during the short growing season, there is enough water from permafrost melt for lush shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses to grow), |
| Which type of biome is pictured below?, | Northwest coniferous forest (a.k.a. - temperate rainforests. This photo is taken from Washington state), |
| Which type of biome is pictured below?, | Temperate forest (a.k.a. - Temperate deciduous forest), |
| The layer of permanently frozen subsoil that only thaws a few centimeters during the summer in the tundra is called ____. | permafrost |
| Permafrost is found in the _____ biome. | Tundra, |
| Plants like cactus and aloe vera are called _____ plants. | succulent |
| Which biome is characterized by cool moist winters, hot dry summers, and periodic brush fires? | Temperate Woodland and Shrubland (a.k.a. - Chaparrel). The parts of California that are always catching on fire are an example.,  |
| Which type of biome is characterized by warm to hot summers, cold winters, seasonal precipitation, and very fertile soils? | Temperate Grasslands (think of Iowa),  |
| Which type of biome do we live in? | Temperate forest (a.k.a. - Temperate deciduous forest), |
| Which type of biome is characterized by broadleaf deciduous trees, cold to moderate winters, warm summers, and year-round rainfall? | Temperate forest (a.k.a. - Temperate deciduous forest), |
| Which type of biome is characterized by long cold winters, short mild summers, and mostly coniferous trees? | Boreal forests (a.k.a. - Taiga), |
| What are the four abiotic factors used to classify aquatic ecosystems? | depth, flow, temperature, water chemistry |
| Streams and rivers are examples of _________ ecosystems. | flowing-water ecosystems |
| Lakes and ponds are examples of ______ ecosystems. | standing-water ecosystems |
| Give two examples of standing-water ecosystems. | Lakes and ponds |
| Give two examples of flowing-water ecosystems. | Streams and rivers |
| Where water flows quickly, there is a lot of dissolved _______ but little ____. | oxygen, plant life |
| _____ are free-floating organisms that live in both fresh and saltwater (usually unicellular). | Plankton,
|
| Plankton that are autotrophs (producers) are called ____ and they form the base of most aquatic food chains. | phytoplankton,
|
| Plankton that are heterotrophs (consumers) are called _____. | zooplankton,
|
| An ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year is called a(n) ______. | wetland |
| _________ are formed where a river meets the sea. | Estuaries |
| ______ water is a mixture of fresh and saltwater. | Brackish |
| ________ is partially decomposed organic matter. It washes into estuaries to form the base of the estuary food chain. | Detritus |
| _______ are estuaries that are dominated by grasses. | Salt marshes |
| ________ swamps are coastal areas dominated by salt-tolerant trees with big roots that trap sediments and prevent erosion | Mangrove,  |
| What type of coastal ecosystem is shown below?, | A mangrove swamp. Notice the huge root system coming off the mangrove trees., |
| The _______ zone is the layer of the ocean that light penetrates | photic |
| The _______ zone is the layer of the ocean that light cannot penetrate. | aphotic (pronounced "A-fotic") |
| No autotrophs can grow in the aphotic zone because without light, _________ is impossible. | photosynthesis |
| The part of the ocean that lies beyond the continental shelf is called the ________. | open ocean |
| _______ is the zone between the low tide mark and the edge of the continental shelf. | The coastal ocean |
What type of coastal ecosystem is this seal swimming around in?,  | kelp forest |
What type of coastal ecosystem is pictured below?,  | Coral reef |
| The _______ zone refers to the sea floor. | benthic |
| Organisms that live on, in, or attached to the sea floor are referred to as _____. | benthos |
