Chapter 5 Vocabulary

Question 1

Biome

Answer 1

A broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions

Question 2

Vertical Zonation

Answer 2

Terrestrial vegetation zones determined by altitude

Question 3

Cloud Forests

Answer 3

High mountain forests where temperatures are uniformly cool and fog or mist keeps vegetation wet all the time

Question 4

Tropical Rainforests

Answer 4

Forests in which rainfall is abundant–more than 200 cm (80 in) per year– and temperatures are warm to hot year-round

Question 5

Tropical Seasonal Forests

Answer 5

Semievergreen or partly deciduous forest tending toward open woodlands and grassy savannas dotted with scattered, drought-resistant trees species; distinct wet and dry seasons, hot year-round

Question 6

Grasslands

Answer 6

A biome dominated by grasses and associated herbaceous plants

Question 7

Savannas

Answer 7

Open grasslands with sparse tree cover

Question 8

Desert

Answer 8

A type of biome characterized by low moisture levels and infrequent and unpredictable precipitation. Daily and seasonal temperatures fluctuate widely

Question 9

Chaparral

Answer 9

Thick, dense, thorny evergreen scrub found in Mediterranean climates

Question 10

Deciduous

Answer 10

Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves at the end of the growing season

Question 11

Coniferous

Answer 11

Needle-bearing trees that produce seeds in cones

Question 12

Temperate Rainforest

Answer 12

The cool, dense, rainy forest of the norther Pacific coast; enshrouded in fog much of the time; dominated by large conifers

Question 13

Boreal Forest

Answer 13

A broad band of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees that stretches across northern North America (and also Europe and Asia); its northernmost edge, the taiga, intergrades with the arctic tundra

Question 14

Tundra

Answer 14

Treeless arctic or alpine biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, a short growing season, and potential for for frost any month of the year; vegetation includes low-growing perennial plants, mosses, and lichens

Question 15

Benthic

Answer 15

The bottom of a sea or lake

Question 16

Pelagic

Answer 16

Zones in the vertical water column of a water body

Question 17

Coral Reefs

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Coral Bleaching

Answer 18

Whitening of corals caused by expulsion of symbiotic algae– often resulting from high water temperatures, pollution, or disease

Question 19

Mangroves

Answer 19

Trees from a number of genera that live in salt water

Question 20

Estuary

Answer 20

A bay or drowned valley where a river empties into the sea

Question 21

Salt Marshes

Answer 21

Shallow wetlands along coastlines that are flooded regularly or occasionally with sea water

Question 22

Tide Pools

Answer 22

Depressions in a rocky shoreline that are flooded at high tide but cut off from the ocean at low tide

Question 23

Barrier Islands

Answer 23

Low, narrow, sandy islands that form offshore from a coastline

Question 24

Thermocline

Answer 24

In water, a distinctive temperature transition zone that separates an upper layer that is mixed by the wind (the epilimnion) and a colder, deep layer that is not mixed (the hypolimnion)

Question 25

Wetlands

Answer 25

Ecosystems of several types in which rooted vegetation is surrounded by standing water during part of the year

Question 26

Swamps

Answer 26

Wetland with trees, such as the extensive swamp forests of the southern United States

Question 27

Marshes

Answer 27

Wetland without trees; in North America, this type of land is characterized by cattails and rushes

Question 28

Bogs

Answer 28

An area of waterlogged soil that tends to be peaty; fed mainly by precipitation; low productivity; some bogs are acidic

Question 29

Fens

Answer 29

An area of waterlogged soil that tends to be peaty; fed mainly by upwelling water; low productivity