1.3: Biomes + Community Ecology

Chapter 4: Terrestrial Biomes and Aquatic Biomes, and Chapter 6: Ecology, Relationships, and Keystone Species

Terrestrial Biome

A geographic region categorized by a particular combination of average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and distinctive plant growth forms (on land)

Aquatic Biome

An aquatic region characterized by a particular combination of salinity, depth, and water flow

Habitat

An area where a particular species lives in nature

Tundra

A cold and treeless biome with low growing vegetation

Permafrost

An impenetrable, permanently frozen layer of soil

Boreal Forest

A biome made up primarily of coniferous evergreen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons, sometimes called taiga.

Temperate Rainforest

Coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation

Temperate Seasonal Forest

A biome with warm summers and cold winters, over 1m (39 inches) of annual precipitation, sometimes called Temperate Deciduous Forest

Woodland/Shrubland

A biome characterized by hot, dry, summers and mild, rainy winters

Temperate Grassland/Cold Desert

A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters and hot, dry summers

Tropical Rainforest

A warm and wet biome found between 20 degrees north and 20 degrees south, with little seasonal temperature variation and high precipitation

Tropical Seasonal Forest/Savanna

A biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons

Subtropical Desert

A biome prevailing at roughly 30 degrees north and south, with hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation

Annual Plants

Plants that live for only a few months, reproduce, and then die

Perennial Plants

Plants that live for many years

Littoral Zone

The shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds, where most algae and emergent rooted plants grow, and where photosynthesis mainly occurs

Limnetic Zone

A zone of open water in lakes and ponds, where rooted plants can no longer survive and phytoplankton are the only photosynthetic organisms. Extends as deep as sunlight can reach

Profundal Zone

A region of water in very deep lakes where sunlight doesn’t reach and producers can’t survive

Bethnic Zone

The muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean

Oligotrophic

Low productivity, with low levels of nutrients

Mesotrophic

Moderate productivity

Eutrophic

High levels of productivity

Freshwater wetlands

An aquatic biome that’s submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough for emergent vegetation growth

Swamps

Wetlands with emergent plants and trees

Marshes

Wetlands with primarily nonwoody plants

Bogs

Acidic wetlands with moss and spruce trees

Salt Marsh

A marsh containing nonwoody emergent vegetation, found a long the coast in temperate climates. Many are found in estuaries

Estuary

An area along the coast where fresh water (rivers) mixes with salt water (oceans) to produce brackish water

Mangrove swamp

A swamp that occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts, and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water

Intertidal zones

The narrow band of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide

Coral Reefs

The most diverse aquatic biome, found in warm, shallow waters beyond the shoreline

Coral bleaching

A phenomenon in which algae inside corals die, causing the corals to die and then turn white

Open ocean

Deep ocean water, located away from the shoreline, where sunlight can no longer reach the ocean bottom

Photic zone

The upper layer of ocean water in the ocean, that receives enough sunlight to carry out photosynthesis

Aphotic zone

The deeper layer of ocean water, that lacks sufficient sunlight for photosynthesisC

Chemosynthesis

A process used by some bacteria in the ocean to generate energy with methane and hydrogen sulfide bonds

Community ecology

The study of interactions between species

Symbiotic relationship

The relationship between two species that live in close association

Competition

The struggle of individuals to obtain a shared limiting resource

Competitive exclusion principle

The principle stating that two species competing for the same limiting resource can’t coexist

Resource partitioning

When two species divide a resource based on differences in their behavior and/or morphology

Predation

An interaction in which one animal typically kills and consumes another animalP

Parasitoid

A specialized type of predator that lays eggs inside other organisms - the host organism

Parasitism

An interaction in which one organism lives on/in another organismP

Pathogen

A parasite that causes disease in it’s host

Herbivory

An interaction in which an animal (consumer) consumes a producer (photosynthetic organism)

Mutualism

An interaction between two species that increases the chance of survival and or reproduction for both speciesX

Commensalism

A relationship between species in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor helped

Keystone species

A species that is not very abundant, but has large effects on an ecological community

Ecosystem engineer

A keystone species that creates or maintains habitat for another species