Unit 4: Flora and Fauna Flashcards
Biotic living
organisms in an ecosystem; obtained from the biosphere and are capable of
Abiotic non-living
physical and chemical elements in the ecosystem; obtained from the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere; examples of abiotic factors are water, air, soil, sunlight, and minerals.
Stratification
a system or formation of layers, classes, or categories.
Symbiosis
a close,prolongedassociationbetweentwoormoredifferentorganismsof differentspeciesthatmay,butdoesnotnecessarily,benefiteachmember.
Urbanization
the process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas, forming cities
Biodiversity
diversity among and within plant and animal species in an environment.
Runoff
water that drains or flows off, as rain that flows off from the land into streams
Biotic and abiotic factors
affect aquatic ecosystems, as well as human and natural phenomena.
Aquatic ecosystems
house numerousspecies of plants and animals, both large and small.
Water
makes up three-fourths of Earth’s surface and creates two biomes: freshwater biome and the marine or saltwater biome
In aquatic biomes, light…
is an important factor that influences thecommunities of organisms found in both freshwater and marineecosystems.
In freshwater biomes, stratification…
a majorabioticfactor, is related to theenergy aspects of light.
Marine systems
are influenced by the physical water movements, such as currents and tides, along with the thermal properties of water
Ocean zones
can be categorized into photicor aphoticzones, depending on the presence or absence of light andphotosynthesis
Most marine life
is found in coastal habitats, even though the shelf area occupies only seven percent of the total ocean area.
