Module 3 - Communities, Biomes, and Ecosystems Flashcards
What is ecological succession?
The process of one community replacing another as a result of changing abiotic and biotic factors
What is primary succession?
The establishment of a community in an area of bare rock that doesn’t have any topsoil
What is a climax community?
A stable, mature community in which there is little change in the number of species
What is secondary succession?
The orderly and predictable change that takes place after a community of organisms has been removed but the soil remains
What is weather?
The condition of the atmosphere at a specific place and time
What is latitude?
The distance from the equator
What is climate?
The average weather conditions in an area
What is a tundra?
A treeless biome with a layer of permanently frozen soil called permafrost beneath the surface. Found in the northernmost areas of North America, Europe, and Asia
What is the boreal forest?
AKA Taiga, northern coniferous forest
A broad band of dense evergreen forest, with spruce, fir, pine trees, warmer, longer summer
What are temperate forests?
South of boreal forest, composed mostly of broad-leaved deciduous trees, four seasons, cold winters and hot summers
What are temperate woodlands?
Summers are hot and dry. Winters are cool and wet.
Found in the Mediterranean Sea, along the western coasts of North and South America, in South Africa, and in Australia.
What is a temperate grassland?
AKA - Steppes (Asia), prairies (North America), pampas and llanos (South America), savannahs (Africa), and rangelands (Australia).
Fertile soils, a thick layer of grasses, grazing animals, hot summers, cold winters
What is a desert?
Any area where evaporation happens at a higher rate than precipitation
What is a tropical savanna?
Grasses and scattered trees, found in South America, Africa, and Australia
What are tropical seasonal forests?
Have a wet season and dry season, trees drop leaves in dry season
What is a tropical rainforest?
Warm temperatures, lots of rainfall, most biodiversity.
What are oligotrophic lakes?
Nutrient-poor lakes found high in the mountains
What are eutrophic lakes?
Nutrient-rich lakes with lots of biodiversity
What are the lake zones?
Littoral zones
Limnetic zones
Profundal zones
What is the littoral zone?
The shallow area close to the shore
What is the limnetic zone?
The open water area, well lit, and full of plankton
What is plankton?
Free-floating organisms that live in freshwater or marine ecosystems
What is the profundal zone?
The deepest area of the lake, colder, darker, less oxygen
What is the intertidal zone?
A narrow band where the ocean meets land
What are the 3 main zones in the ocean?
Pelagic
Abyssal
Benthic
What are the two areas of the pelagic area?
Photic and aphotic
What is the photic zone?
The area of the pelagic zone from the surface to about 200 m below, shallow enough for light to penetrate
What is the aphotic zone?
The area of the pelagic zone where light cannot penetrate
What is the benthic zone?
The zone along the ocean floor that consists of sand, silt, and dead organisms.
What is a wetland?
An area of land such as a marsh, swamp, or bog that is saturated with water and that supports aquatic plants.
