This site is 100% ad supported. Please add an exception to adblock for this site.

Environmental Science C4&C5

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
What is the Benthic Zone?
p.100
The bottom of a body of water; inhabited by decomposers, insect larvae, and clams
What is a Biome?
p.79
A region that have distinctive climates and organisms and that contain many separate but similar ecosystems.
What is a Canopy?
p.82
The top layer of a rainforest where the covering of intertwining branches absorbs most of the sunlight and shades the understory.
What is a Chaparral?
p.94
Coastal Biome with a Mediterranean climate and low-lying vegetation. Animal species include quail, lizards, chipmunks, mule deer,et.al. which use camouflage for protection.
What is a Coral Reef?
p. 107
Limestone islands in the sea that are built by coral animals called polyps.
What is a Desert?
p.95
Areas that receive less than 25cm (10") of precipitation a year. Two types include hot&dry or cold&dry
What is Drought Resistance?
p. 96.
Plants ability to live through long periods of drought (little water)
What is Estivating?
p.96
The act of burying in the ground and sleeping through the dry season.
What is an Estuary?
p. 105
Aquatic ecosystem in which fresh water from rivers mixes with salt water from the ocean forming a nutrient trap.
What is the Littoral Zone?
p. 100
The shallow-water area near the shores of lakes and ponds where sunlight reaches the bottom.
What is Permafrost?
p.97
Permanently frozen soil a few inches below the active
soil layer in Tundra Biomes.
What is Taiga?
p.88-89
"Boreal Forest" , the northern coniferous forest that stretches in a broad band across the northern hemisphere just below the Artic Circle.
What is a Temperate Deciduous Forest? p.86
Forest where trees drop their leaves ech fall, occur betw. 30 & 50 degree latitudes, extreme seasonal variation, winter below freezing, summers up to 95 degrees F.
What are Temperate Grasslands? p.92
Biomes occurring in semi-arid interiors of continents; examples are the prairies of North America, the steppes of Russia and Ukraine, and the pampas of South America.
What are Tropical Rainforests? p. 80
Warm, wet biome that occurs in a belt around the Earth near the equator and that contains the greatest diversity of organisms on Earth.
What is a Savannah? p. 90
A tropical grassland biome with a short rainy season.
Ex. Tanzania, Kenya etc.
What is a Tundra? p. 97
A biome without trees, where grasses and tough shrubs grow in the frozen soil; extends from Arctic Circle to the north pole.
What are Wetlands? p102
Areas of land covered with water for part of the year.
Two types are freshwater wetlands (marshes) which contain nonwoody plants and swamps containing woody plants or shrubs.
What is an Aquifer? p. 126
An underground water source found in rock formations
What is Artificial Eutrophication? p. 137
Eutrophication that occurs because of the introduction of inorganic plant nutrients into a body of water through sewage and fertilizer runoff.
What is Biological Magnification? p. 136
Accumulation of increasingly large amounts of a toxin within the tissues of organisms at each successive trophic level.
What is Desalinization? p.128
A process in which salt is removed from salt water, as from the oceans rendering the water fit for drinking and cooking.
What is Groundwater? p. 126
Water that seeps down through the ground and is stored underground on top of nonporous rock layers.
What is Nonpoint Pollution?
p. 133
Pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single specific site; an example is pollution that reaches a body of water from streets and storm sewers.
What is Point Pollution?
p. 133
Pollution that is discharged from a single source, such as a factory, wastewater treatment plant, or oil tankers.
What is the Recharge Zone?
p. 127
Area of land on the Earth's skurface from which groundwater originates.
What is Surface Water?
p. 123
Freshwater above ground in lakes, ponds, rivers, & streams.
What is Thermal Pollution?
p. 137
The addition of excessive amounts of heat to a body water such as runoff from industrial cooling systems.
What is Water Pollution?
p. 131
The introduction of foreign substances into water that degrade its quality, limit its use, and affect organisms in it or drinking it.
What is a Watershed? p. 123
The entire area of land that is drained by a river.

Deck Info

30

permalink