Biomes Flashcards
Biogeography
The study of where organisms live.
Consumers
Organisms that get energy by eating other organisms.
Canopy
The tall trees in a rain forest that form the leafy roof.
Carnivore
Consumers that eat only animals.
Climate
The typical weather pattern in an area over a long period of time.
Condensation
The process by which water vapor (gas) changes to a liquid.
caused by cooling
Coniferous Tree
A tree that produces seeds in cones and has needle-shaped leaves.
Continental Drift
The very slow motion of the continents.
caused by the movement of tectonic plates
Deciduous Tree
A tree that sheds its leaves and grows new ones each year.
Decomposer
An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms.
Desert
An area that receives less than 25 centimeters of precipitation per year.
- extreme temperatures
- evaporation is greater than precipitation
Dispersal
The movement of organisms from one place to another.
Energy Pyramid
A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web.
Evaporation
The process when liquid changes to a gas.
caused by heating
(water to water vapor)
Exotic Species
Species that is brought to a new location by people.
Food Chain
A series of events in which one organism eats another and gets energy.
Food Web
The group of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.
Grassland
An area that contains mostly grasses and other non-woody plants.
- 25 - 75 centimeters of rain
Herbivore
A consumer that eats only plants.
Nitrogen Fixation
The process of changing free nitrogen into a usable form.
Omnivore
A consumer that eats plants and animals.
Permafrost
The soil of the Tundra that stays frozen all year.
Precipitation
Water that falls to the Earth as rain, snow, sleet or hail.
Producer
An organism that can make its own food.
Savanna
Grasslands located closer to the equator than prairies.
- receive up to 120cm. of rain each year.
Scavenger
A carnivore that feeds on dead organisms.
- vulture, catfish
Tundra
An arctic biome that is extremely cold and dry
- rainfall similar to a desert
Understory
The layer in the rainforest beneath the canopy.
- made of shorter trees and vines.
Water Cycle
The continuous process by which water goes from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back.
*evaporation, condensation and precipitation
