Biotic Factors
All of the organisms in the area-make up the living component of the environment.
Abiotic Factors
Make up the environment’s non living component and include chemical and physical factors, such as temperature, light, water, minerals, and air.
Habitat
The specific environment it lives in, includes the biotic and abiotic factors of its surroundings.
Organism
An individual living thing.
Organismal Ecology
Concerned with the evolutionary adaptations that enable organisms to meet the challenges posed by their abiotic environments.
Population
Group of individuals of the same species living in a particular geographic area.
Population Ecology
Concentrates mainly on factors that affect population density and growth.
Community
Consists of all the organisms that in-habit a particular area; it is an assemblage of populations of different species.
Community Ecology
Focus on how interactions between species, such as predation and competition, affect community structure and organization.
Ecosystem Ecology
Questions concern energy flow and the cycling of chemicals among the various biotic and abiotic factors.
Biosphere
Global ecosystem the sum of all the planet’s ecosystems, or all of life and where it lives.
Acclimation
A gradual, though still reversible, physiological adjustment that occurs in response to an environmental change.
Biome
A major terrestrial or aquatic life zone, characterized by vegetation type in terrestrial biomes and the physical environment in aquatic biomes.
Photic Zone
Shallow water near shore and the upper layer of water away from shore. Named because light is available for photosynthesis.
Aphotic Zone
If a lake or pond is deep enough or murky enough. Light levels are too low to support photosynthesis.
Benthic Realm
At the bottom of all aquatic biomes. Made up of sand and organic and inorganic sediments, the benthic realm is occupied by communities of organisms that may include algae, aquatic plants, worms, insect larvae, molluscs, and microorganisms.
Phytoplankton
The mineral nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus typically regulate the growth. The collective name for microscopic algae and cyanobacteria that drift near the surfaces of aquatic biomes.
Wetland
A transitional biome between an aquatic ecosystem and a terrestrial one.
Pelagic Realm
Of the oceans includes all open water.
Zooplankton
(Free-floating animals, including many microscopic ones), fishes, marine mammals, and many other types of animals are abundant in the pelagic photic zone.
Intertidal Zone
Where the ocean meets land, the shores pounded by waves during high tide and exposed to the sun and drying winds during low tide.
Estuary
A transition area between a river and the ocean.
Tropics
The region from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn.
Temperate Zones
Latitudes between the tropics and the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle.
Tropical Forests
Occur in equatorial areas where the temperature is warm and days are 11-12 hours long year-round.
Chaparral
The climate that supports chaparral vegetation results mainly from cool ocean currents circulating offshore, producing mild, rainy winters.
Temperate Grasslands
Have some of the characteristics of tropical savannas, but they are mostly treeless, except along rivers or streams, and are found in regions of relatively cold winter temperatures.
Temperate Broadleaf Forests
Occur throughout mid latitudes where there is sufficient moisture to support the growth of large trees.
Coniferous Forests
Cone-bearing evergreen trees such as pine, spruce, fir, and hemlock dominate in the Northern Hemisphere.
Taiga
Largest terrestrial biome on Earth, stretching in abroad band across North America and Asia south of the Arctic Circle.
Temperate Rain Forests
Of coastal North America (from Alaska to Oregon) are also coniferous forests. Warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean supports this unique biome, which, like most is dominated by a few tree species.
Tundra
Covers expansive areas of the Arctic between the taiga and polar ice.
Permafrost
(Permanently frozen subsoil), bitterly cold temperatures, and high winds are responsible for the absence of trees and other tall plants in the arctic tundra.
Polar Ice
Covers the land at high latitudes north of the arctic tundra in the Northern Hemisphere and in Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere.
Sustainability
The goal of developing, managing, and conserving Earth’s resources in ways that meet the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Greenhouse Gases
Natural, including CO2, water vapor, and methane. Act as a blanket that traps heat in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse Effect
Heating effect, highly beneficial. Warming of the atmosphere caused by CO2, CH4, and other gases that absorb heat radiation and slow it’s escape from Earth’s surface.
Carbon Footprint
The amount of greenhouse gas emitted as a result of the actions of a person, nation, or other entity.
Ecology
The scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environments, offers a different perspective on life-biology from the skin out.