| Term | Definition |
|---|
| greenhouse gases | the gases that let light and heat through the atomosphere |
| upwelling | process in which water rises toward the surface in warmer regions |
| biotic factors | the factors that shape organisms (opposite of abiotic factors) |
| abiotic factors | nonliving or physical factors that shape an ecosystem |
| niche | full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organsim lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions |
| ecological resource | the series of predictable changes that occurs in community over time |
| ecological succession | any neccessity of life, water, nutrients, light, food or space |
| weather is day to day, climate is the yearly average | the difference between weather and climate |
| factors that cause climate | trapping of heat by the atomophere, latitude, transport of heat by winds and ocean currents and the amount of precipitation |
| earth is a sphere tilted on an axis | why does solar radiation strikes different parts of the earth's surface at an angle that varies through out the year? |
| winds and ocean currents | the moon because of unequal heating of earths's surface |
| polar zone | areas around north and south poles, cold |
| temperate zone | between the polar zones and the tropics, hot to cold |
| tropical zone | the zone near the equator, hot and humid |
| competition | when there aren't enough resources such as food, water, and habitat |
| competition exclusion principle | No two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time |
| predator eats prey, prey gets eaten by predator | what is predation? |
| symbiosis | any relationship in which two species live closely together with mutalism, commensalism, parasitism |
| mutualism | species benefit from relationship, flowers and their pollinators |
| commensalism | one gets an advantage and the other doesn't lose anything, whale and barnacles |
| paratism | one organism lives on or in another and harms it |
| primary succession | when a disturbance occurs and there is no soil so things can barely grow |
| microclimate | a climate of a small area differs dramatically from that of surrounding areas |
| chemistry, depth, and flow | List three characteristics that determine the structure of aquatic ecosystems. |
| flowing water and standing water | What are the two main types of freshwater ecosystems? |
| vertical zones | intertidal, nertic, open ocean |
| bentho | the name of the organism that lives at the bottom of the sea |
| estuary | ecosystem where fresh meets ocean water |
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