Additional Terms

Question 1

Mountain rain shadow effect

Answer 1

A rain shadow is a patch of land that has been forced to become a desert because mountain ranges blocked all plant-growing, rainy weather. On one side of the mountain, wet weather systems drop rain and snow.

Question 2

Ericaceous Plants

Answer 2

a bed with acidic soil typically having a pH between 4.5 and 6

Question 3

pH Scale

Answer 3

The range goes from 0 - 14, with 7 being neutral. pHs of less than 7 indicate acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates a base.

Question 4

pH Soil Types

Answer 4

Ultra acidic	                < 3.5
Extremely acidic	        3.5–4.4
Very strongly acidic	4.5–5.0
Strongly acidic	        5.1–5.5
Moderately acidic	        5.6–6.0
Slightly acidic	                6.1–6.5
Neutral	                        6.6–7.3
Slightly alkaline	        7.4–7.8
Moderately alkaline	7.9–8.4
Strongly alkaline	        8.5–9.0
Very strongly alkaline	> 9.0

Question 5

Boreal Forest

Answer 5

as forests growing in high-latitude environments where freezing temperatures occur for 6 to 8 months and in which trees are capable of reaching a minimum height of 5 m and a canopy cover of 10%.

Question 6

Hemlock Hardwood Forest

Answer 6

vegetation composed primarily of broad-leaved trees that shed all their leaves during one season. Deciduous forest is found in three middle-latitude regions with a temperate climate characterized by a winter season and year-round precipitation: eastern North America, western Eurasia, and northeastern Asia. Deciduous forest also extends into more arid regions along stream banks and around bodies of water.

Question 7

Tidal Estuaries

Answer 7

an arm of the sea where salty sea water meets fresh water running off the land.

Question 8

Grasslands

Answer 8

re areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses

Question 9

Savannas

Answer 9

is a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close.

Question 10

Anaerobic Conditions

Answer 10

occur when the uptake or disappearance of oxygen is greater than its production by photosynthesis or diffusion by physical transport from the surrounding environment. Oxygen is generally consumed by microbial respiration as a consequence of the availability of organic material.

Question 11

Insolation

Answer 11

the amount of solar radiation reaching a given area.

Question 12

Angle of Repose

Answer 12

or critical angle of repose, of a granular material is the steepest angle of descent or dip relative to the horizontal plane to which a material can be piled without slumping. At this angle, the material on the slope face is on the verge of sliding. The angle of repose can range from 0° to 90°.

Question 13

Angle of Deflection

Answer 13

is the angle between the onward extension of the previous leg and the line ahead

Question 14

Macroclimate

Answer 14

consists of patterns on the global, regional, and landscape level

Question 15

Microclimate

Answer 15

consists of very fine patterns (climate of community of organisms under a fallen log)

are small regions within a general climate zone that have their own unique climatic conditions. Microclimates exist because of local varying features such as hills, mountains and bodies of water

Question 16

Igneous Rock

Answer 16

diabase, diorite, gabbro, granite, pegmatite, and peridotite, basalt

Question 17

Mass Wasting

Answer 17

also known as slope movement or mass movement, is the geomorphic process by which soil, sand, regolith, and rock move downslope typically as a solid, continuous or discontinuous mass, largely under the force of gravity, frequently with characteristics of a flow as in debris flows and mudflows.

Question 18

Glaciation

Answer 18

The process, condition, or result of being covered by glaciers or ice sheets.

Question 19

Fracturing

Answer 19

also called fracking, fracing, hydrofracking, fraccing, frac’ing, and hydrofracturing, is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid.

Question 20

Sedimentation

Answer 20

the process of settling or being deposited as a sediment.

Question 21

Siltation

Answer 21

is a process by which water becomes dirty as a result of fine mineral particles in the water. When sediment, or silt, is suspended in water, this is an example of siltation.

Question 22

Tundra

Answer 22

a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.

Question 23

Desert

Answer 23

abandon (a person, cause, or organization) in a way considered disloyal or treacherous.

Question 24

Humus

Answer 24

the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms.

Question 25

Hydrophytes

Answer 25

a plant which grows only in or on water.

Question 26

Mesophytes

Answer 26

a plant needing only a moderate amount of water.

Question 27

Xerophytes

Answer 27

a plant which needs very little water.

Question 28

Lithophytes

Answer 28

a plant that grows on bare rock or stone.

Question 29

Topiary

Answer 29

the art or practice of clipping shrubs or trees into ornamental shapes.

Question 30

Fastigiate

Answer 30

(of a tree or shrub) having the branches sloping upward more or less parallel to the main stem.

Question 31

Espaller

Answer 31

is the horticultural and ancient agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit, by pruning and tying branches to a frame.

Question 32

Angle of incidence

Answer 32

the angle which an incident line or ray makes with a perpendicular to the surface at the point of incidence.

Question 33

Trough

Answer 33

a long, narrow open container for animals to eat or drink out of.