Chapter 47 Key Terms
Terms
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- Define Ecology
- study of the interactions of organisms with one another and with their environment
- Define Biosphere
- part of the Earth in and on which life exists
- Define Ecosystem
- division of the biosphere consisting of all the biotic and abiotic factors that surround organisms and affect their way of life
- Define Community
- all the populations of organisms living in a given area
- Define Ecological Succession
- process through which an existing community is gradually replaced by another community
- Define Climax Community
- relatively stable collection of plants and animals that results from ecological succession
- Define Biome
- environment that has a characteristic climax community
- Define Tundra
- northernmost land biome covered by mosses, lichens, and grasses and characterized by permafrost
- Define Taiga
- biome dominated by great coniferous forests
- Define Temperate Deciduous Forest
- biome characterized by changing seasons and leaf fall
- Define Grassland
- biome consisting of a vast area covered with grasses and small leafy plants
- Define Tropical Rain Forest
- biome in which the temperature stays warm and the rain falls year round
- Define Desert
- biome that receives less than 25 centimeters of rainfall a year
- Define Freshwater Biome
- rivers, streams, and lakes that provide drinking water and food
- Define Marine Biome
- ocean habitat
- Define Estuary
- area between fresh water and salt water
- Define Producer
- organism that is able to make its own food from inorganic substances
- Define Consumer
- organism that gets its energy either directly or indirectly from producers
- Define Decomposer
- organism that breaks down and obtains energy form dead organic material
- Define Ecological Pyramid
- diagram used to represent the energy relationships among tropic levels of an ecosystem
- Define Biochemical Cycle
- series of physical and biological processes by which nutrients move through the biosphere
- Define Water Cycle
- movement of water through the atmosphere to the Earth and back to the atmosphere
- Define Nitrogen Cycle
- movement of nitrogen through the biosphere between organisms and the atmosphere
- Define Denitrification
- process by which bacteria in the soil break down nitrogen compounds into free nitrogen
- Define Carbon Cycle
- movement of carbon between organic compounds that make up living tissues and CO2 in the air`
- Define Oxygen Cycle
- movement of oxygen through the environment
- Define Limiting Factor
- condition that limits the rate at which energy is produced in an ecosystem by preventing a species from growing to its potential
- Define Food Chain
- series of organisms through which food energy is passed in an ecosystem
- Define Food Web
- complex relationship formed by interconnecting and overlapping food chains