Biomes
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17 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Biome | Major type of ecosystem occupying |
| Benthic zone (marine floor) | bottom of aquatic biome made up of sand and inorganic sediments, sea floor-very dark and cold-some bacteria are chemosynthetic.-bacteria,worms,and sea urchins |
| Wetland | area covered with water that supports aquatic plants |
| Estuary | area where freshwater stream or ocean merges with an ocean |
| Intertidal zone | Where land meets water; alternatively sumberged and exposed due to tides |
| Ocean zone | past neritic zone and continental shelf, which reaches very great depths |
| Coral reef | Warm water, tropical, ecosystems dominated by the hard skeletal structures secreted primarily by the resident cnidarians |
| Tropical forest | Pronounced vertical stratification, canopy, competition for light, Epiphytes- plants that grow on other plants instead of soil, wet and dry seasons, thorny shrubs and trees and succulents |
| Savanna | Grasses and scattered trees, main herbivores are insects, dominant plant species are fire-adapted, plentiful grasses and forbs (small broadleafe plants) provide a rich source of food, has periods of seasonal drought |
| Desert | very sparse rainfall, deeply rooted shrubs, animals have mechanisms to store water, CAM photosynthesis (a metabolic adaptation that conserves water in this arid environment) |
| Chaparral | Dense spiny evergreen shrubs dominate, mid-latitude costal areas, mild rainy winters and long hot dry summers, plants adapted to and dependent on periodic fires |
| Temperate grassland | seasonal drought, occasional fires, grazing by large animals, no large shrubs and trees, soil is deep and rich in nutrients and provides fertile land for agriculture |
| Temperate deciduous forest | mid-latitudes where moisture is sufficient to support growth of large trees, deciduous trees- drop leaves before winter, more open than rainforests and not as tall, distinct vertical layers-one to two strata of trees understory of shrubs and herbaceous stratum, many mammals here enter hibernation, some birds migrate during the winter, tend to recover more quickly after disturbances |
| Coniferous forest | Cone-bearing trees, supported by warm moist air, broad range extending across northern N. America and Eurasia, Taiga- northern coniferous forest; largest biome on earth; receives heavy snowfall |
| Tundra | Permafrost- permanently frozen subsoil, bitterly cold temperatures, high winds, absence of trees and other tall plants, very little annual rainfall, covers large areas of arctic |
| Lakes | Geography: topographic depressions in the landscape; Structure: littoral zone, limnetic zone, epilimnion metalimnion, hyypolimnion; Light:influenced by lake chemistry and biological activity; Temperature: thermally stratified; Water movements; wind driven mixing of the water column; spring and summer; Salinity: very variable; Oxygen: oligotrophic = highly oxygenized Eutrophic = low oxygen; Biology: variable; HI: settlement, overfishing, movement of fish |
| streams and rivers | fresh water, flowing water, generally support different communiteis of organisms, at source usually cold low in nutrients and cles, warmer and murkier at the end |
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