| A | B |
|---|
| Climate | The average weather in an area over a long period. |
| Biome | Large region with a distinct combination of plants and animals. |
| Tundra | Cold, dry land biome where most plants are low-growing and short lived. |
| Coniferous Forest | Biome made up mainly of cone-bearing trees such as pines and spruces. |
| Deciduous Forest | Biome in which the main plants are broad-leaved trees that lose their leaves in the autumn. |
| Canopy | Highest layer of trees. |
| Understory | Layer of smaller trees below the canopy. |
| Shrub Layer | Short woody plants below the understory. |
| Herb Layer | Small plants with soft, green stems that grow close to the ground. |
| Tropical Rain Forest | Warm, humid biome with the greatest variety of life forms. |
| Temperate Rain Forest | Biome along the North American Coast from California to Alaska; temperatures are moderate and about 300cm rain per yr. |
| Grassland | Biome with moderate rainfall and grasses as the main plants. |
| Prairie | Another name for a grassland. |
| Desert | Biome that receives less than 25 cm of rain per yr. |
| Marine Biome | Made up of the ocean; contains about 3.5% salt. |
| Freshwater Biome | Includes bodies of water such as lakes, and rivers |
| Fresh water | Water with less than 0.005% salt. |
| Salinity | Amount of salt in the water. |
| Intertidal Zone | Shallow, everchanging ocean zone where organisms are underwater at high tide and exposed to air at low tide. |
| Near Shore Zone | Ocean zone with enough light to support a variety of organisms, both plant and animal. |
| Plankton | Tiny organisms, both plant and animal that float near the surface of the water. |
| Open-sea Zone | Deepest zone of the ocean. |
| Turbidity | Cloudiness caused by tiny particles in water. |
| Limiting factor | Factor that keeps a population from increasing in size. |
| Chaparral | Type of shrub land community that is dominated by small leaved evergreen vegetation. |
