Key words Flashcards
Climatic climax.
Final plant stage of a succession.
Dynamic equilibrium.
No environmental change - no vegetation change.
Deforestation.
Deliberate clearance of forest by cutting/burning.
Plagioclimax.
The plant community that exists when human interference prevents the climatic climax being reached.
Secondary succession.
Succession on formerly vegetated land.
Sere.
An individual stage in a plant succession.
Succession.
A series of changes that take place in a plant community over time.
Biomass
The total mass of plant and animal life in an ecosystem.
Biome.
Ecosystem at a continental scale covering a large scale area, with vegetation characteristics that are predominantly influenced by the climate.
Ecosystem.
A dynamic, stable system characterised by the interaction of plants and animals with each other and with the non-living components of te ecosystem.
Environment.
All the conditions in which an organism lives.
Food chain.
A hierarchy of organisms in a community.
Each member feeds upon another in the chain and is eaten in turn.
Food web.
When organisms within a community eat more than on to or food and food chains become interlinked, a food web is created.
Tropic level.
A feeding level within a food chain. The first level is made up of vegetation or primary sources.
Biodiversity.
The variety of species within an ecosystem.
Leaching/eluviation.
Soluble bases are removed from a soil by downward-percolating water in environments where precipitation exceeds evaporation.
