Ecology Flashcards
Niche
Functional role of an organism or population
Dominant Species
Exerts control over the other species that are present
Successive Communities
Composed of populations that are able to exist under new conditions
Climax Community
The biotic part of an ecosystem in which populations exist in balance with each other and with the environment
Self-Sustaining Ecosystem
Stable abiotic/biotic, constant energy source, materials are cycled
Biomes
Ecosystems within a specific geographic region
Colonization of Land
Lack of water, lack of food, varying temperatures, varying soil composition
Climax Vegetation
Vegetation that becomes dominant and stable after years of evolutionary development
Deserts
Fewer than 10 inches of rain annually, small plants/animals, conservation of water, maintaining constant body temperature (Sahara)
Grassland
Low rainfall, no shelter, herbivorous mammals with long legs and hoofed (Prairies)
Rainforest
Torrential rains, high to moderate temperatures, epiphytes, saprophytes (Amazon)
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Cold winters, warm summers, moderate rainfall, leave shed (Northeastern US)
Temperate Coniferous Forest
Cold, dry, pines, water conservation, needle-shaped leaves (Canada)
Taiga
Low rainfall, long cold winters, coniferous, moss, lichens, extreme north (Russia)
Tundra
Treeless, frozen plain, ice sheets, snow, permafrost, mosses (Arctic)