Principles Of Life Chapter 41

Front 1

physical geography

Back 1

the spatial distributions of Earth's climates and surface features

Front 2

biogeography

Back 2

spatial distributions of species

Front 3

abiotic

Back 3

nonliving

Front 4

ecological system

Back 4

one or more organisms and the environment in which they exchange energy and materials

Front 5

ecology

Back 5

the entire science of the relations of the organism to its external environment

Front 6

population

Back 6

a group of individuals of the same species that live, interact, and reproduce in a particular geographic area

Front 7

community

Back 7

an assemblage of interacting populations of different species within a particular geographic area

Front 8

landscapes

Back 8

multiple communities

Front 9

biosphere

Back 9

all the organisms of Earth and the environments they occupy

Front 10

ecosystem

Back 10

the abiotic components of an environment

Front 11

weather

Back 11

atmospheric conditions at a particular place and time

Front 12

climate

Back 12

average state of atmospheric conditions and their pattern of variation through time

Front 13

seasonality

Back 13

a consequence of the 23.5 degree axial tilt of Earth's axis of rotation

Front 14

tropics

Back 14

latitudes between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn

Front 15

adiabatic

Back 15

relating to or denoting a process or condition in which heat does not enter or leave the system concerned

Front 16

Hadley Cells

Back 16

two cycles of vertical atmospheric circulation to the north and south of the equator

Front 17

Coriolis effect

Back 17

causes prevailing surface winds to blow from east to west in the tropics, from west to east in middle latitudes, and from east to west again at the poles

Front 18

gyre

Back 18

a clockwise circuit of currents

Front 19

topography

Back 19

variation in the elevation of Earth's surface

Front 20

rain shadow

Back 20

when a mountain acts as a barrier to precipitation, with a lush windward side and arid leeward side

Front 21

climate diagram

Back 21

a way of summarizing the climate of a given location by superimposing graphs of average monthly temperature and precipitation through a year in a way that indicates periods that are favorable or unfavorable for plant growth

Front 22

biome

Back 22

a distinct physical environment that is inhabited by ecologically similar organisms with similar adaptations

Front 23

littoral zone

Back 23

nearshore regions of lakes and oceans

Front 24

intertidal zone

Back 24

nearshore regions of oceans

Front 25

photic zone

Back 25

surface waters with abundance of light and oxygen

Front 26

limnetic zone

Back 26

open-water areas in lakes

Front 27

pelagic zone

Back 27

open-water areas in oceans

Front 28

phytoplankton

Back 28

free-floating photosynthetic organisms

Front 29

aphotic zone

Back 29

areas of bodies of water below the reach of light

Front 30

benthic zone

Back 30

a lake bottom or ocean floor

Front 31

abyssal zone

Back 31

deepest zones of the oceans, with high pressure, low oxygen, and cold temperature

Front 32

biogeographic regions

Back 32

encompasses multiple biomes and contains a distinct assemblage of species, many of which are phylogenetically related

Front 33

biotic interchange

Back 33

mixing of species that had been previously isolated

Front 34

Wallace's Line

Back 34

separates the Oriental and Australasian biogeographic regions

Front 35

conservation ecology

Back 35

the study of the process of extinction, and ways to prevent extinction of vulnerable species

Front 36

restoration ecology

Back 36

the study of restoring the health of damaged ecosystems

Front 37

natural history

Back 37

the observation of nature out side of a formal, hypothesis-testing investigation