chap 3 vocab

Question 1

biosphere

Answer 1

part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere

Question 2

ecology

Answer 2

scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment

Question 3

species

Answer 3

a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring

Question 4

population

Answer 4

group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area

Question 5

community

Answer 5

assemblage of different populations that live together in a defined area

Question 6

ecosystem

Answer 6

all the organisms that live in a place, together with their nonliving environment

Question 7

biotic factor

Answer 7

any living part of the environment with which an organism might interact

Question 8

abiotic factor

Answer 8

physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem

Question 9

atmosphere

Answer 9

thin layer of gases that surround Earth

Question 10

hydrosphere

Answer 10

all of the water–salt water and fresh water, in the form of liquid, ice, or vapor–above and below Earth’s surface and in the atmosphere

Question 11

geosphere

Answer 11

all of the rock at and below Earth’s surface

Question 12

biome

Answer 12

a group of ecosystems that share similar climates and typical organisms

Question 13

taiga

Answer 13

biome with long cold winters and a few months of warm weather; dominated by coniferous evergreens; also called boreal forest

Question 14

permafrost

Answer 14

layer of permanently frozen subsoil found in the tundra

Question 15

wetland

Answer 15

ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface for at least part of the year

Question 16

estuary

Answer 16

kind of wetland formed where a river meets the ocean

Question 17

climate

Answer 17

average year-to-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in an area over a long period of time

Question 18

weather

Answer 18

day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, including temperature, precipitation, and other factors

Question 19

greenhouse effect

Answer 19

the process in which certain gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor) trap sunlight energy in Earth’s atmosphere as heat

Question 20

plankton

Answer 20

microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments; includes both phytoplankton and zooplankton