Download Chapter Two Vocabulary Biogeography The study of where

Chapter Two Vocabulary
Biogeography The study of where organisms live
Biome A group of land ecosystems with similar climates and organisms
Canopy A leafy roof formed by tall trees in a forest
Carnivore A consumer that eats only animals
Climate The typical weather pattern in an area over a long period of time
Condensation The process by which a gas changes to a liquid
Coniferoustree A tree that produces its seeds in cones and has needle shaped leaves
Consumer An organism that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms
Continentaldrift The very slow motion of the continents
Deciduoustree A tree that sheds its leaves and grows new ones each year
Decomposer An organism that breaks down wastes and dead organisms
Desert An area that receives less than 25 centimeters of precipitation per year
Dispersal The movement of organisms from one place to another
Ecosystem The community of organisms that live in a particular area along with the abiotic factors
Energyflow The movement of energy through an ecosystem by food chains and webs
Energypyramid A diagram that shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to
another in a food web
Evaporation The process by which molecules of a liquid absorb energy and change into a gas
Exoticspecies Species that are carried to a new location by people
Foodchain A series of events in which one organism eats another and gains energy
Foodweb The pattern of overlapping food chains in an ecosystem
Grassland An area populated by grasses and other nonwoody plants, it gets 25-75 cm of rain yearly
Groundwater Water stored in underground layers of soil and rock
Herbivore A consumer that eats only plants
Nitrogenfixation The process of changing free nitrogen gas into a useable form
Omnivore A consumer that eats both plants and animals
Permafrost Soil that is frozen all year
Precipitation Rain sleet hail or snow
Producer An organism that can make its own food
Savanna A grassland close to the equator that receives as much as 120cm of rain each year
Scavenger A consumer that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms
Tundra An extremely cold, dry biome
Understory A layer of shorter plants that grow in the shade of a forest canopy
Watercycle The continuous process by which water moves from the Earth’s surface to the
atmosphere and back