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Weather the condition of Earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place climate average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precipitation in a particular region greenhouse effect natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases polar zone cold climate zone where the sun's rays strike Earth at a very low angle temperate zone moderate climate zone between the polar zones and the tropics. tropical zone warm climate zone that receives direct or nearly direct sunlight year round biotic factor biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem abiotic factor physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem habitat the area where an organism lives, including the biotic and abiotic factors that affect it niche full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions resource any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food, or space competitive exclusion principle ecological rule that states that no two species can occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time predation interaction in which one organism captures and feeds on another organism symbiosis the relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent mutualism symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship commensalism symbiotic relationship in which one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed parasitism symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives in or on another organism (the host) and consequently harms it ecological succession gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance primary succession succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists pioneer species first species to populate an area during primary succession secondary succession succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil biome group of ecosystems that have the same climate and dominant communities tolerance the power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions microclimate climate within a small area that differs significantly from the climate of the surrounding area canopy dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rain forest trees understory layer in a rain forest formed by shorter trees and vines deciduous term used to refer to a tree that sheds its leaves during a particular season each year coniferous term used to refer to trees that produce seed-bearing cones and have thin leaves shaped like needles humus material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter taiga biome in which the winters are cold but summers are mild enough to allow the ground to thaw permafrost layer of permanently frozen subsoil in the tundra plankton Tiny, free-floating organisms that occur in aquatic environments phytoplankton population of algae and other small, photosynthetic organisms found near the surface of the ocean and forming part of plankton zooplankton tiny animals that form part of the plankton wetland ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year estuary wetlands formed where rivers meet the ocean detritus particles of organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of an estuary's food web salt marsh temperate-zone estuary dominated by salt-tolerant grasses above the low-tide line and by seagrasses under water mangrove swamp coastal wetland dominated by mangroves, salt-tolerant woody plants photic zone well-lit upper layer of the oceans aphotic zone permanently dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone zonation prominent horizontal banding of organisms that live in a particular habitat coastal ocean marine zone that extends from the low-tide mark to the end of the continental shelf kelp forest coastal ocean commmunity named for its dominant organism-kelp, a giant brown alga coral reef diverse and productive environment named for the coral animals that make up its primary structure benthos organisms that live on or in the ocean floor