Biome Terms

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nitrogen fixation

Back 1

the process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usuable form

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understory

Back 2

layer of the rainforest where shorter plants grow in the shade of the forest canopy

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deciduous forest

Back 3

group of trees that shed their leaves and grow new ones each year

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estuary

Back 4

a habitat where fresh water meets salt water

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carnivore

Back 5

a consumer that eats only meat

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nodules

Back 6

bumps on the roots of certain plants that house nitrogen fixing bacteria

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desert

Back 7

an area that receives less than 25 cm of precipitation a year

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coniferous trees

Back 8

group of trees that produce their seeds in cones and have needle shaped leaves

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intertidal zone

Back 9

area between the highest high tide line and the lowest low tide line

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hibernation

Back 10

sleeplike state that some mammals enter during the winter

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biome

Back 11

group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms

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grassland

Back 12

an area populated by grasses that gets 25 to 75 cm of rain each year

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permafrost

Back 13

frozen soil

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neritic zone

Back 14

region shallow water that extends over the continental shelf

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temperate

Back 15

moderate temperatures

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taiga

Back 16

Russian word for boreal or coniferous forest

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migration

Back 17

movement from one region or climate to another on a regular schedule for feeding or breeding

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organism

Back 18

any living thing

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ecosystem

Back 19

all the living and nonliving things that interact in an area

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producer

Back 20

any organism that makes its own food

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consumer

Back 21

an organism that obtains its energy by feeding on other organisms

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decomposer

Back 22

soil organisms that break down wastes and the remains of dead organisms and digest them

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photosynthesis

Back 23

process by which organisms use water along with sunlight and carbon dioxide to make food

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herbivore

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consumer that eats only plants

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omnivore

Back 25

consumer that eats both plants and animals

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scavenger

Back 26

a carnivore that feeds on the bodies or flesh of dead organisms

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food chain

Back 27

series of events in which one organism eats another

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food web

Back 28

the pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem

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savanna

Back 29

grassland close to the equator

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canopy

Back 30

leafy roof formed by tall trees

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transpiration

Back 31

evaporation from plants

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precipitation

Back 32

moisture in the form of rain, sleet, snow or hail

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evaporation

Back 33

process by which molecules of a liquid absorb energy and change to a gas state

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condensation

Back 34

process by which a gas changes to a liquid

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energy pyramid

Back 35

a diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web

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water cycle

Back 36

continuous process where water moves from the earth's surface to the atmosphere and back