| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Allen's rule | surface area to volume ratio; animals in cold environments have shorter extremities (limbs/ears) compared to related species living in warm environments |
| Annuals | plants that only live for one year, need a lot of energy, and tend to be heliophytes |
| Carrying capacity | number of individuals in a species that a given area can support |
| Compensation point | point where energy from photosynthesis is enough to offset respiration/basic needs; not growing, just sustaining |
| Deciduous | perennial plants that lose their leaves during annual cold or dry seasons |
| Density | differences in abundance (common vs. rare species) |
| Dimorphic leaves | different sized or shaped leaves on the same plant that may vary by season or by the high on the plant at which the leaf grows |
| Euryhaline | organisms that can withstand a large range of salinities |
| Eurythermic | organisms that can tolerate a wide temperature range |
| Evapotranspiration | water that is added to the atmosphere by both evaporation from waterbodies and soils, and by transpiration from plants |
| Generalist | species that can tolerate a wide range of conditions and have a large niche (ie pigeons) |
| Geographic range | areas where a species can be found |
| Habitat | explicit special, physical, and biological environment in which species can be found (ie tropical rainforest) |
| Heliophytes | plants that need or prefer full sun |
| Homeotherms | organisms with a constant body temperature (generally birds/mammals) |
| Hydrophyte | plants that grow in very wet environments, even in standing water |
| Mesophytes | plants that grow in moist environments |
| Niche | resource requirements and behavior; the resource space in which a species exists |
| Ordination analysis | the study of how species distributions relate to the environment, including how species ranges and densities are distributed along environmental gradients |
| Perennials | plants that live at least a year, for several growing seasons |
| Phenology | the seasonal timing of changes in the growth and reproduction of plants and animals |
| Phloem | cells in vascular plants that are specialized for the flow of food |
| Poikilotherms | organisms that take on the same temperature as their surrounding environment (generally plants) |
| Sciophytes | plants that need or prefer to grow in the shade (ie most house plants) |
| Sclerophyllous leaves | type of leaves adapted to dry environments, with a waxy hard surface to avoid losing water |
| Specialist | species that tolerate narrow ranges of conditions |
| Stenothermic | organisms that can only tolerate a narrow temperature range |
| Transpiration | the release of water vapor to the atmosphere by plants |
| Xerophytes | plants that grow in dry environments |
| Xylem | cells in vascular plants that are specialized for the flow of water |
Combine with other sets
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