Fljr/srhs Biology Vocabulary Chapter 4

Front 1

aphotic zone

Back 1

The part of the ocean beneath the photic zone, where light does not penetrate sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur.

Front 2

biome

Back 2

One of the world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment.

Front 3

commensalism

Back 3

A symbiotic relationship in which the symbiont benefits but the host is neither helped nor harmed. See Symbiosis.

Front 4

competitive exclusion principle

Back 4

The concept that when the populations of two species compete for the same limited resources, one population will use the resources more efficiently and have a reproductive advantage that will eventually lead to the elimination of the other population.

Front 5

deciduous

Back 5

Refers to plants that shed their leaves at a certain season.

Front 6

detritus

Back 6

Dead organic matter.

Front 7

ecological succession

Back 7

Transition in the species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in an area virtually barren of life.

Front 8

greenhouse effect

Back 8

The warming of planet Earth due to the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide, which absorbs infrared radiation and slows its escape from the irradiated Earth.

Front 9

habitat

Back 9

The place in which individuals of a particular species can usually be found.

Front 10

mutualism

Back 10

A symbiotic relationship in which both the host and the symbiont benefit. See Symbiosis.

Front 11

niche

Back 11

See Ecological niche.

Front 12

parasitism

Back 12

A symbiotic relationship in which the symbiont (parasite) benefits at the expense of the host by living either within the host (endoparasite) or outside the host (ectoparasite). See Symbiosis.

Front 13

photic zone

Back 13

The narrow top slice of the ocean, where light permeates sufficiently for photosynthesis to occur.

Front 14

phytoplankton

Back 14

Aquatic, free-floating, microscopic, photosynthetic organisms.

Front 15

plankton

Back 15

Mostly microscopic organisms that drift passively or swim weakly near the surface of oceans, ponds, and lakes.

Front 16

predation

Back 16

An interaction between species in which one species, the predator, eats the other, the prey.

Front 17

primary succession

Back 17

A type of ecological succession that occurs in an area where there were originally no organisms.

Front 18

resource partitioning

Back 18

The division of environmental resources by coexisting species populations such that the niche of each species differs by one or more significant factors from the niches of all coexisting species populations.

Front 19

secondary succession

Back 19

A type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been severely cleared by some disturbance.

Front 20

symbiosis

Back 20

An ecological relationship between organisms of two different species that live together in direct contact.

Front 21

taiga

Back 21

The coniferous or boreal forest biome, characterized by considerable snow, harsh winters, short summers, and evergreen trees.

Front 22

zooplankton

Back 22

A collective term for the nonphotosynthetic organisms present in plankton.