chap+4

Chapter 4 - The Role of Climate 4.1 What is Climate? -Weather day to day condition of earth's atmosphere at a particular time and place. -Climate - The average, year after year condition of temperature and precipitation -Causes of climate - -[|trapping of heat by the atmosphere]- Latitude - __[|transport of heat by the wind]__ -__[|ocean currents]__ -__[|amount of precipitation]__-The Greenhouse Effect -caused by the atmosphere -__[|carbon dioxide]__, __[|methane]__, water vapor and a few other atmospheric gases trap heat energy and maintain earth's temperature range. - atmosphere keeps earth warm -__[|Greenhouse effect]__- Natural situation in which heat is retained by layer of greenhouse gases.


 * Vocabulary 4.1

weather:** the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.




 * climate:** the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years.




 * Greenhouse effect:** an atmospheric heating phenomenon, caused by short-wave solar radiation being readily transmitted inward through the earth's atmosphere but longer-wavelength heat radiation less readily transmitted outward, owing to its absorption by atmospheric carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and other gases; thus, the rising level of carbon dioxide is viewed with concern.




 * Polar Zone:** one of the Earth’s climato-vegetational zones, typified by enduring cold and by temperatures that average less than 10º C (50º F) in all months of the year. Polar climates are mostly confined to the high latitudes of the Earth, although similar conditions can be found on high mountains at any latitude.




 * Temperate zone:** the part of the earth's surface lying between the tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle in the Northern Hemisphere or between the tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle in the Southern Hemisphere, and characterized by having a climate that is warm in the summer, cold in the winter, and moderate in the spring and fall.




 * Tropical zone:** the part of the Earth's surface between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn; characterized by a hot climate [syn: Torrid Zone]




 * 4-2 Vocab**


 * Biotic factor:** Biotic factors are factors resulting from the activities of a living thing or any living component in an environment, such as the actions of an organism affecting the life of another organism.




 * Abiotic factor:** pertaining to any non-biological factors that play a role in an organism's environment; non-living environmental factors




 * Habitat:** the natural environment of an organism; place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism:




 * Niche:** the position or function of an organism in a community of plants and animals.




 * R esources, **the collective wealth of a country or its means of producing wealth.




 * Competitive exclusion principle**: sometimes referred to as **Gause's Law of competitive exclusion** or just **Gause's Law**,[2] is a proposition which states that two species competing for the same resources cannot stably coexist if other ecological factors are constant




 * Predation**: a relation between animals in which one organism captures and feeds on others.




 * Symbiosis**: the living together of two dissimilar organisms, as in mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, or parasitism.




 * Mutualism:** relationship between two species of organisms in which both benefit from the association.




 * Commensalism**: is a class of relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits but the other is unaffected




 * Parasitism:** is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the **parasite**, benefits at the expense of the host.




 * ecological succession:** a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more-or-less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community.




 * primary succession:** is one of two types of biological succession and ecological succession of plant life, and occurs in an environment in which new substrate, devoid of vegetation and usually lacking soil, is deposited (for example a lava flow)




 * Pioneer species:** are species which colonize previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession.




 * Secondary succession:** is one of the two types of ecological succession of plant life.



4.4. Salt Water Ecosystems A. ____ -Wetlands formed where rivers meet the oceans -contain mix of fresh and salt water -Contain __[|Dendrites]__ -Tiny pieces of organic material that provide food for organisms e.g. clams, worms, sponges -Contain lots of species, but little variety -Serve as spawning and nesting area . Types of Estuaries 1. __[|Salt marshes]__- temperate zone estuaries dominated by salt-tolerant grasses e.g. __[|Chesepeake Bay]__ 2. __[|Mangrove Swamps]__- coastal wetlands that spread in tropical regions -good for nurseries and nesting -dominated by __[|mangrove trees]__ B. Marine Ecosystems -So deep only photosynthesis occurs in first 200m (__[|photic zone]__) -__[|Aphotic Zone]__ is 200-1000m __[|Division of the Ocean]__ 1. Photic - plants 2. Aphotic - no plants 3. intertidal 4. coastal ocean 5. open ocean

C. Intertidal Zone -Exposed to 100% water and air, sunlight and temperature changes -Organisms are attered by waves e.g. __[|starfish]__, __[|urchins]__, __[|barnicles]__ -Competition leads to __[|Zonation]__ -prominant horizontal bonding or organisms that live in particular habitat -distinguished by color

D. Open Ocean -__[|Oceanic Zone]__ -begins at continential shelf -500m-11000m


 * Biome:** climatically and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms,[1] and are often referred to as ecosystems.




 * Microclimate:** is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area.




 * Canopy:** is the aboveground portion of a plant community or crop, formed by plant crowns.



Understory: is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy.




 * Deciduous:** means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off (deriving from the Latin word //decidere//, to fall off)[1] and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe.



Any of various mostly needle-leaved or scale-leaved, chiefly evergreen, cone-bearing gymnospermous trees or shrubs such as pines, spruces, and firs.
 * Coniferous:**




 * Humus:** is degraded organic material in soil, which causes some soil layers to be dark brown or black.




 * Taiga:** is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.




 * Permafrost:** is soil at or below the freezing point of water (0 °C or 32 °F) for two or more years.




 * Plankton:** consist of any drifting organisms (animals, plants, archaea, or bacteria) that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water.




 * Phytoplankton**: are the autotrophic component of the plankton community



Zooplankton: are the heterotrophic (sometimes detritivorous) type of plankton.




 * wetland:** is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally.




 * Estuary: i**s a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.



Detritus: is non-living particulate organic material (as opposed to dissolved organic material).




 * Salt Marsh:** is a type of marsh that is a transitional intertidal between land and salty or brackish water (e.g.: sloughs, bays, estuaries).




 * Mangrove swamp:** A tropical or subtropical marine swamp distinguished by the abundance of low to tall trees, especially mangrove trees.




 * Photic zone**: is the depth of the water in a lake or ocean, that is exposed to sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis to occur.




 * Aphotic zone**: is the portion of a lake or ocean where there is little or no sunlight.




 * Zonation:** distribution of kinds of organisms in biogeographic zones.




 * Coastal ocean:** extends from the low-tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf, the relatively shallow border that surrounds the continents.




 * Kelp forest:** are underwater areas with a high density of kelp. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth.




 * Coral reef**: are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters containing few nutrients.




 * Benthos:** are the organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone.