Ecosystems and Global Biomes

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining key components, roles, and biomes within ecosystems based on the lecture material.

Ecosystem

A community of living organisms interacting with each other and with the non-living environment around them.

Biotic factors

The living parts of an ecosystem that affect other organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and their interactions.

Abiotic factors

The non-living parts of an ecosystem that affect living organisms, such as temperature, water availability, light intensity, soil type, pH, salinity, and oxygen concentration.

Primary producers

Green plants that use photosynthesis to make food and take nutrients from the soil using their roots.

Primary consumers

Plant-eating animals, also known as herbivores.

Secondary consumers

Animals that feed on herbivores, also known as carnivores.

Tertiary or quaternary consumers

Top carnivores that hunt and eat other carnivores as well as herbivores in an ecosystem.

Decomposers

Micro-organisms such as fungi and bacteria that break down dead plants and animals, releasing nutrients back into the ecosystem to be recycled.

Biome

A large-scale global ecosystem defined mainly by the dominant type of vegetation that grows in the region.

Coniferous forests

A biome found roughly between $50^\text{o}$ and $60^\text{o}$ north of the equator, dominated by cone-bearing evergreens that retain leaves to maximize photosynthesis in colder environments.

Hot deserts

A biome located roughly $30^\text{o}$ north and south of the equator covering $\frac{1}{5}$ of Earth's land surface, characterized by sinking air, high day-time temperatures, low night-time temperatures, and low rainfall.

Mediterranean biome

A biome with hot, sunny, dry summers and mild winters caused by shifting pressure belts, supporting vegetation such as olive trees, lemon trees, and orange trees.

Mountains biome

A constantly changing environment where temperatures cool and plant and animal species vary continuously with changes in elevation.

Savanna

A biome located between $15^\text{o}$ and $30^\text{o}$ north and south of the equator, featuring distinct wet and dry seasons, violent thunderstorms, and large grazing herds.

Temperate deciduous forests

A biome found roughly between $50^\text{o}$ and $60^\text{o}$ north of the equator where deciduous trees shed their leaves in winter to retain moisture.

Temperate grasslands

A biome located roughly $30^\text{o}$ to $40^\text{o}$ north and south of the equator inland away from coasts, with hot summers and cold winters, dominated by grasses used for grazing.

Tropical forests

A biome close to the equator covering $6\text{\%}$ of Earth's land surface, containing over $50\text{\%}$ of Earth's plants and animals, and providing $25\text{\%}$ of all medicines.

Tundra

A biome found from the Arctic circle to about $60^\text{o}$ to $70^\text{o}$ north characterized by low-lying plants adapted to cold, windy, and dry conditions, which is vulnerable to oil exploitation and tourism.