| A | B |
|---|
| watershed | area of land where water flows downhill to a common stream, lake, or river |
| condensation | water vapor that cools down (gas) & forms clouds (liquid) |
| evaporation | water from the ocean, lakes, & rivers that heats up & turns into water vapor (gas) as it goes into the air towards the clouds |
| precipitation | water that falls from the clouds in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to Earth |
| groundwater | water stored underground in tiny holes in the soil and rocks |
| runoff | precipitation that flows over the land's surface and is not absorbed into the soil |
| compost | a mixture of dead organic matter that can be used as fertilizer |
| water cycle | evaporation, condensation, precipitation |
| carbon cycle | respiration, photosynthesis, decomposition |
| nitrogen cycle | gas, to living things |
| extinct species | all members of a species have died |
| endangered species | a species in danger of becoming extinct |
| threatened species | a species with low number that could become threatened |
| pioneer species | the first living organisms in an otherwise lifeless area |
| succession | the process of an ecosystem changing into a new and different ecosystem |
| primary succession | takes place slowly in a community where few, if any, living things exist or where earlier communities were wiped out by a disaster |
| secondary succession | the beginning of a new community where a community already existed |
| pioneer community | the first living community in an otherwise lifeless area |
| climax community | the final stage and will stay that way unless it is disturbed by a disaster |
| primary succession | lichens, grasses, shrubs, pines, maple |
| biome | one of Earth's major ecosystems with its own characteristic animals, plants, soil, & climate |
| desert | a sandy or rocky biome with little precipitation and little plant life |
| tundra | a large, treeless biome where the ground is frozen all year - North & South Poles |
| taiga | the world's largest biome |
| taiga | a cool forest biome in northern regions - evergreens |
| tropical rain forest | a hot, humid biome near the equator where there is heavy rainfall and a wide variety of life |
| temperate rain forest | a biome with a lot of rain, fog, and a cool climate - mild winters & cool summers |
| deciduous forest | a forest with four distinct seasons, the trees have leaves that change color and fall off in the fall |
| grassland | a biome where grasses, not trees, are the main plant life - prairies, savanna |
| plankton | creatures that drift freely in the water and are not able to swim |
| nekton | large active swimmers in a body of water - fish, turtles, whales |
| benthos | organisms that live on the bottom of a body of water - lobsters, oysters, worms |
| intertidal zone | the shallowest part of the ocean ecosystem where ocean tides rise and fall |
| neritic zone | sunlight zone - small fish |
| oceanic zone | bathyal zone & abyssal zone |
| bathyal zone | twilight or dark zone - sharks, octopus |
| abyssal zone | deep, dark cracks on the ocean floor cx |
| estuary | the boundary where fresh water feeds into salt water |
| freshwater ecosystems | standing water, running water, wetlands |
| saltwater ecosystems | intertidal zone, neritic zone, oceanic zone |
