ecology & biome vocabulary -...
TRANSCRIPT
Ecology & Biome Vocabulary
Word Definition Examples
Organism Any living thing
Abiotic Not living rocks,
water, sun
Create a table in your lab notebook with these headings. You
will use the front and back of a page. There are vocabulary
words underlined, the definition column should be the largest.
You may choose to draw a picture or list examples.
Biosphere
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Organism
Levels of Ecological Organization
- way of grouping like things ecologically
Biosphere
Parts of the Earth needed to support life,
top portion of Earth’s crust, all waters on
Earth and the surrounding atmosphere
BiomeLarge area of land that has similar weather and
organisms: examples include desert, tropical
rainforest, freshwater, saltwater and grassland
Ecosystem
Consists of all the living and nonliving factors of the environment.
Abiotic
nonliving things in an environment (Never living); soil, water, temperature, wind.
Air
Biotic
living or once living (dead) things in an environment; plants and animals.
CommunityAll the populations in an ecosystem
(includes different species).
Ex. All the seals, sharks, whales, and seaweed by a corral reef
PopulationAll organisms in an ecosystem that
belong to the same species.
(all the same kind of organism in an area)
Ex. School of fish or a flock of birds
OrganismAny living thing. Ex. Plant, animal,
fungi, bacteria etc.
Producer
Organisms (plants) that use the sun to make food (photosynthesis)
ConsumerOrganism that cannot make their own food, eat other organisms.
Decomposer: organism that breaks down wastes and dead plants and animals
Plants use decomposer waste as fertilizer
Fungi (mushrooms), bacteria, worms
HabitatWhere an organism lives
Forest – habitat of a wolf
Microhabitat – small habitat within a larger one
Decaying tree – habitat for insects
NicheHow an organisms survives.
• Obtains food & shelter
• Finds mate & cares for young
Adaptation
A change developed over many generations that help an
organism to survive. Animals depend on these features to
help them obtain food, keep safe, build homes, withstand
weather, and attract mates. Examples include: gills in fish,
hollow bones in birds, xylem in plants, the shape of a bird's
beak, color of the fur, the thickness of the fur, the shape of
the nose or ears
Biological Diversity, AKA
Biodiversity
Variety of organisms in an area
• More Biodiversity = healthy or stable
ecosystem, like Tropical Rainforest
• Less Biodiversity = unstable or fragile
ecosystem, like Tundra
Biomes• 6 Major Terrestrial Biomes (land)
– Tundra
– Taiga
– Deciduous Forest
– Tropical Rain Forest
– Desert
– Grasslands
• 2 Major Aquatic or Marine Biomes (water)
– Salt Water (Ocean, Reef, Shoreline)
– Fresh Water (Rivers, Lakes, Ponds, swamps)
Biome Location Climate:
Temperature,
Rainfall, soil
Plants Animals
Make the headers below to fill in as each
biome is discussed. Climate, plants, and
animals should be the biggest columns.
Tundra
Located near North Pole (Alaska)
Extremely cold
Little precipitation, but limited drainage
Soil is frozen, called “Permafrost”
Low biotic diversity
Simple vegetation (plants)
Short season of growth and reproduction
Treeless
Plants: lichen, moss, grass, small shrubs
Animals: insects and migratory birds in summer,
hawks, snow owls, mice, arctic hares, reindeer
Tundra
Largest Biome
South of the Tundra
Long cold, snowy winters and Short warm, rainy,
humid summers
Plants: Coniferous forest (cone bearing)
Animals: Moose, lynx, shrews, bears, foxes
Taiga (TI guh)
Deciduous Forest
•Eastern U.S., Russia, Japan, New Zealand,
Southeastern Australia
•4 distinct seasons
•Deciduous trees (have leaves that change
color that they lose in the Fall)
•Lots of decomposition on forest floor: insect
diversity
•Plants: Oak, maple, and hickory trees
•Animals: Bald eagles, coyote, platypus,
squirrel, deer
Tropical Rain Forest
Near the equator
Warm temperatures and lots of precipitation
Temperature doesn’t vary much night and day
Little nutrients in soil because of competition
of abundance of plant life
Very diverse plants and animals (Coconut
trees)
DesertDriest Biome
Rain quickly evaporates or drains
away
Animals: Few large animals,
kangaroo rat, scorpions (Most
nocturnal and burrowing because
extreme temperatures
Few plants: cacti, joshua tree
Sandy soil with little organic matter
Grasslands
Located in mid and western U.S.
Thin soil and a season with little rain
Plants: grasses, small shrubs, few trees
Animals: kangaroo, zebra, wildebeest, lion
Freshwater
Rivers, streams, creeks, lakes and ponds
algae, moss, plankton, alligators, turtles
Salt Water
Ocean (Light & Dark zones), coral reef, seashoreStarfish, crab, sharks, whales, fish, seaweed, kelp
Intertidal zone
Biome Collage• Choose a biome to draw and color. Include an example of each
vocabulary word in your biome and label each word.
– Biosphere
– Ecosystem
– Abiotic
– Biotic
– Community
– Population
– Organism
– Producer
– Consumer
– Decomposer
– Niche
– Microhabitat
– Adaptation
Fresh Water
Biome
Abiotic
Population
Bio
sphere