Chp. 5 homie
Terms
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- Reefs
- Consist of colonies of minute, colonial animals that live symbiotically with photosynthetic algae
- pelagic
- Zones in the vertical water column of a water body
- phytoplankton
- Microscopic, free-floating, autotrophic organisms that function as producers in aquatic ecosystems
- temperate rainforest
- The cool, dense, rainy forests of the northern Pacific coast; enshrouded in fog much of the time; dominated by large conifers
- tundra
- Treeless arctic or alpine biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, a short growing season, and potential for frost any month of the year; vegetation includes low-growing perennial plants, mosses and lichens
- fen
- An area of waterlogged soil that tends to be peaty; fed mainly by upwelling water; low productivity
- tropical seasonal forest
- Semievergreen or partly deciduous forests tending toward open woodlands and grassy savannas dotted with scattered, drought-resistant tree species; distinct wet and dry season, hot year-round
- southern pine forest
- United States coniferous ecosystem characterized by a warm, moist climate
- mangroves
- Trees from a number of genera that live in salt water
- conifer
- Needle-bearing tree that produce seeds in cones
- benthic
- The bottom of a sea or lake
- boreal forest
- A broad band of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees that stretches across northern North America (and also Europe and Asia); its northernmost edfe, the taiga, intergrades with the artic tundra
- thermocline
- In water, a distinctive temperature transition zone that separates an upper layer that is mixed by wind (the epilimnion) and a colder, deep layer that is not mixed (the hypolimnion)
- tropical rainforest
- Forests in which rainfall is abundant - more that 200 cm (80 in) per year - and temperatures are warm or hot year-round
- chaparral
- Thick, dense, thorny evergreen shrub found in Mediterranean climates
- coral reefs
- Prominent oceanic features composed of hard, limy skeletons produced by coral animals; usually formed along edges of shallow, submerged ocean banks or along shelves in warm, shallow, tropical seas
- deciduous
- Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves at the end of the growing season
- desert
- A type of biome characterized by low moisture levels and infrequent and unpredictable precipitation. Daily and seasonal temperatures fluctuate widely
- thorn scrub
- a dry, semi-desert dominated by acacias and other spiny shrubs
- wetlands
- Ecosystems of several types in which vegetation is surrounded by stand water during part of the year
- taiga
- The northernmost edge of the boreal forest, including species-poor woodland and peat deposits; intergrading with the arctic tundra
- cloud forest
- High mountain forests where temperatures are uniformly cool and fog or mist keeps vegetation wet all the time
- biome
- A broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions
- marsh
- Wetland without trees; in North America, this type of land is characterized by cattails and rushes
- estuary
- A bay or drowned valley where a river empties into the sea
- grasslands
- A biome dominated by grasses and associated herbaceous plants
- barrier island
- Low, narrow, sand islands that form offshore from a coastline
- bog
- An area of waterlogged soil that tends to be peaty; fed mainly by precipitation; low productivity; some bogs are acidic
- swamp
- Wetland with trees, such as the extensive swamp forests of the Southern United States