Science Chapter 4

Front 1

benthic zone

Back 1

bottom of a body of water; inhabited by decomposers, insect larvae, and clams

Front 2

biome

Back 2

regions that have distinctive climates and organisms and that contain many seperate but similar ecosystems

Front 3

canopy

Back 3

in a forest, the covering of tall trees whose intertwining branches asorb a great amount of sunlight and shade the are beneath it

Front 4

chaparral

Back 4

coastal biome with a Mediterranean climater and low-lying vegetation

Front 5

coral reef

Back 5

limeston islands in the sea built, by coral animals

Front 6

desert

Back 6

biome that recieves less than 10 inches of precipitation a year

Front 7

drought-resistance

Back 7

characteristics of a plant that allows it to survive in areas of light or aporadic rainfall

Front 8

estivating

Back 8

practice of lying dormant iunderground during the summer

Front 9

estuary

Back 9

aquatic ecosystem in which rivers mixes with salt from the ocean, forming a nutrient trap

Front 10

littoral zone

Back 10

the shallow-water area near the shores of lakes and ponds where sunlight reaches the bottom

Front 11

permafrost

Back 11

permanently frozen soil a few inches below the active soil in the tundra biomes

Front 12

taiga

Back 12

biome dominated by conifers and characterized by harch winters; occur just below the Artic Circle; also caled northern coniferous forest

Front 13

temperate deciduous forest

Back 13

forest in an area of extreme seasonal variation in which trees drop their leaves each fall

Front 14

temperate grasslands

Back 14

biome occuring in semi-arid interiors of continents; examples are the prairies of North America, the steppes of Russia and Ukraine, and the pampos of South America

Front 15

temperate rain forest

Back 15

cool, humid biome where tree branches are dropped with mosses, tree trunks are covered with lichens, and the forest is covered with ferns

Front 16

tropical rain forest

Back 16

warm, wet biomethat occurs in a belt around the Earth near the equator and that contains the greatest diversity of organisms on Earth

Front 17

savanna

Back 17

tropical grassland biome with a short rainy season

Front 18

tundra

Back 18

biome without trees, where grasses and tough shrubs grow in the frozen soil; extends from the Artic Circle on the North Pole

Front 19

wetlands

Back 19

area of land that is drained by a river