APES Chapter 5 Vocab

altitude/elevation

Distance above sea level

arid

Dry conditions, a desert or other area with little precipitation.

terrestrial biome

Land regions categorized by similar climate: mainly temperature and precipitation. Climate determines the types of plants, soil, and animals that are native to the area.

broadleaf deciduous plants

Plants such as oak and maple trees that survive drought and cold by shedding their leaves and becoming dormant.

broadleaf evergreen plants

Plants that keep most of their broad leaves year-round. Examples are the trees found in the canopies of tropical rain forests.

climate

Physical properties of the troposphere of an area based on analysis of its weather records over a long period (at least 30 years). The two main factors determining an area's climate are temperature, with its seasonal variations, and the amount and distribution of precipitation.

coniferous evergreen plants

Cone-bearing plants (such as spruces, pines, and firs) that keep some of their narrow, pointed leaves (needles) all year. They produce wood known commercially as softwood.

desert

Biome in which evaporation exceeds precipitation and the average amount of precipitation is less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) a year. Such areas have little vegetation or have widely spaced, mostly low vegetation.

forest

Biome with enough average annual precipitation (at least 76 centimeters, or 30 inches) to support growth of various tree species and smaller forms of vegetation.

front

The boundary between two air masses with different temperatures and densities. Cold fronts bring colder air behind them, warm fronts bring warmer air behind them.

grassland/prairie

Biome found in regions where moderate annual average precipitation (25-76 centimeters, or 10-30 inches) is enough to support the growth of grass and small plants but not enough to support large stands of trees.

greenhouse effect

A natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere (troposphere) near the earth's surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, and several other gases in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) absorb some of the infrared radiation (heat) radiated by the earth's surface. This causes their molecules to vibrate and transform the absorbed energy into longer-wavelength infrared radiation (heat) in the troposphere. If the atmospheric concentrations of these gases rise and they are not removed by other natural processes, the average temperature of the lower atmosphere will increase gradually.

greenhouse gases

Gases in the earth's lower atmosphere (troposphere) that trap heat. Examples are carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, ozone, methane, water vapor, and nitrous oxide.

latitude

Distance from the equator.

monsoons

Periods of heavy rains experienced on continents lying north or south of warm oceans.

permafrost

Perennially frozen layer of the soil that forms when the water in the soil freezes. It is found in arctic tundra.

rain shadow effect

Low precipitation on the leeward side of a mountain when prevailing winds flow up and over a high mountain or range of high mountains. This creates semiarid and arid conditions on the leeward side of a mountain range.

succulent plants

Plants, such as desert cacti, that survive in dry climates by having no leaves, thus reducing the loss of scarce water. They store water and use sunlight to produce the food they need in the thick, fleshy tissue of their green stems and branches.

transpiration

Process in which water is absorbed by the root systems of plants, moves up through the plants, passes through pores (stomata) in their leaves or other parts, and evaporates into the atmosphere as water vapor.

weather

Short-term conditions in the temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, precipitation, cloud cover, wind direction and speed.

albedo

Ability of a surface to reflect light.

adiabatic

in cooling: warm air forced upward loses thermal energy & moisture; in heating: cool air forced downward gains thermal energy & moisture