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| the day-to-day condition of Earth's atomosphere at a particular time and place |
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| average, year-after-year conditions of temperature and precitpitation in a particular region |
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| the natural situation in which heat is retained by this layer of greenhouse gasses |
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| cold areas where the sun's rays strike Earth at a very low angle |
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| Sit between the polar zones and the tropics. Located in the areas around the North and South poles, between 66.5 degrees and 90 degrees. |
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| Near the equator, between 23.5 North and 23.5 South Latitudes |
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| Biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem |
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| Physical, or nonliving, factors that shape ecosystems |
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| the area where an organism lives |
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| full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions |
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| any necessity of life, such as water, nutrients, light, food or space |
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| competitive exclusion principle |
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| state that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time |
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| an interaction in which organism captures and feeds on another organism |
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| any relationship in which two species live closely together |
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| both species benefit from the relationship |
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| one member of the association benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed |
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| one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it |
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| series of predictable changes that occur in a community over time |
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| sucession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists |
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| the first species to popular the area |
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| the disturbance is over, community interactions tend to restore the system to its original condition |
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| complex of terrestrial communties that cover a large area and is characterized by certain soil and climate conditions and particular assemblages of plants and animals. |
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| ability to survive under different conditions in different biomes |
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| the climate in a small area that differs through the climate around it |
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| general term for the tiny, free-floating organisms that live in both freshwater and saltwater environments |
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| an ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface of the soil for at least part of the year |
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| wetlands formed where rivers meet the sea |
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| made up of tiny pieces of organic material that provide food for organisms at the base of the estuary's food web |
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| temperate-zone esuaries dominated by salt tolerant grasses above the low-tide line, and by seagrasses under water. |
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| coastal wetlands that are widespread across the topical regions |
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| photosynthesis is limited to this well-lit upper layer (Brightness) |
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| the prominent horizontal banding of organisms that live in a particular habitat |
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| extends from the low-tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf, the relatively shallow border that surrounds the continents. |
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| named for their dominant organism: a giant brown alga that can grow at extraordinary rates-as much as 50 centimeters a day |
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| named for the coral animals whose hard, calium carbonate skeletons make up their primary structure |
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| the ocean floor contains organisms that live attached to or near the bottom, such as sea stars, anemones, and marine worms |
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