Ch.6 key terms Flashcards
biome
a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g. forest or tundra.
climate
the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.
latitude
the angular distance of a place north or south of the earth’s equator, or of a celestial object north or south of the celestial equator, usually expressed in degrees and minutes.
altitude
the elevation of an object from a known level or datum
tropical rainforest
they are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season.
emergent layer
Is the top layer of a rainforest
canopy
the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns.
epiphyte
a plant that grows on another plant but is not parasitic, such as the numerous ferns, bromeliads, air plants, and orchids growing on tree trunks in tropical rainforests.
understory
a layer of vegetation beneath the main canopy of a forest.
temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rainfall.
temperate deciduous forest
a variety of temperate forest ‘dominated’ by trees that lose their leaves each year.
taiga
the sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America.
savanna
a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, with few trees.
temperate grassland
a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
chaparral
vegetation consisting chiefly of tangled shrubs and thorny bushes.
desert
a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life.
tundra
a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.
permafrost
any ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years straight.
