Chapter 2 Ecosystems And Biomes

Front 1

Producer

Back 1

An organism that can make its own food.

Front 2

Consumer

Back 2

An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms

Front 3

Herbivore

Back 3

A consumer that eats only plants.

Front 4

Carnivore

Back 4

A consumer that eats only animals.

Front 5

Omnivore

Back 5

A consumer that eats both plants and animals.

Front 6

Scavenger

Back 6

A carnivore that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms.

Front 7

Decomposer

Back 7

An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms

Front 8

Food Chain

Back 8

A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy

Front 9

Food Web

Back 9

The pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem

Front 10

Energy Pyramid

Back 10

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

Front 11

Water Cycle

Back 11

The continuous process by which water moves from Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back

Front 12

Evaporation

Back 12

The process by which molecules at the surface of a liquid absorb enough energy to change to the gaseous state

Front 13

Condensation

Back 13

The process by which a gas changes to a liquid

Front 14

Precipitation

Back 14

Rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Front 15

Nitrogen Fixation

Back 15

The process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form

Front 16

Biogeography

Back 16

The study of where organisms live

Front 17

Continental Drift

Back 17

The very slow motion of the continents

Front 18

Dispersal

Back 18

The movement of organisms from one place to another.

Front 19

Exotic Species

Back 19

Species that are carried to a new location by people.

Front 20

Climate

Back 20

The typical weather pattern in an area over a long period of time

Front 21

Biome

Back 21

A group of land ecosystems with similar climates and organisms

Front 22

Canopy

Back 22

A leafy roof formed by tall trees in a forest.

Front 23

Understory

Back 23

A layer of shorter plants that grow in the shade of a forest canopy.

Front 24

Desert

Back 24

An area that receives less than 25 centimeters of precipitation per year.

Front 25

Grassland

Back 25

An area populated by grasses and other nonwoody plants. Most grasslands get 25 to 75 centimeters of rain each year.

Front 26

Savanna

Back 26

A grassland close to the equator that receives as much as 120 centimeters of rain per year.

Front 27

Deciduous Tree

Back 27

A tree that sheds its leaves and grows new ones each year.

Front 28

Coniferous Tree

Back 28

A tree that produces its seeds in cones and that has needle-shaped leaves.

Front 29

Tundra

Back 29

An extremely cold, dry biome.

Front 30

Permafrost

Back 30

Soil that is frozen all year.

Front 31

Estuary

Back 31

A habitat in which the fresh water of a river meets the salt water of the ocean.

Front 32

Intertidal Zone

Back 32

The area between the highest high-tide line and lowest low-tide line.

Front 33

Neritic Zone

Back 33

The region of shallow ocean water over the continental shelf.