Download Nature Terms- Multiple definitions

Adaptation Process of adjusting to the environment in order to survive
 anatomical structure, physiological process or behavioral trait of an
organism that has evolved over a period of time by the process of natural
selection
 The process of change to better conform with environmental conditions or
other external stimuli.
 adjustments made by animals in respect of their environments
 The structures or behaviors of an organism that are suited to a particular
environment.
 Tendency of an organism to suit its environment
 modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more fit for existence
under the conditions of its environment.
 a change over time in an organism’s structure or function that helps it
better survive in its environment
 a genetically-based body feature or behavior that allows an organism to
be better suited to its environment.
Anadromous
 those fish which spend the greater part of their lives in salt water, but
migrate into fresh streams for reproduction
 Fish that hatch rear in fresh water, migrate to the ocean (salt water) to
grow and mature, and migrate back to fresh water to spawn and
reproduce.
 fish that return from oceans to fresh water to spawn
 Used to describe fish that spawn in fresh water after spending most of
their lives in the sea.
Aquatic
 Growing, living in, or frequenting water
 relating to or consisting of or being in water;
 Plant which grows partially or completely in water.
 having to do with water.
 Lives predominantly in the water
 of or concerning water.
 forage & live extensively in freshwater.
Biologist
 a person who studies living organisms
 A person who studies living organisms and their relationship to one
another.
 One who studies any living thing.
Browse
 To eat or nibble tender shoots, twigs and leaves
 shrubs, trees and herbs that provide food for wildlife.
 vegetation that animals use for food, especially buds, twigs, sprouts,
leaves, fruit and flowers of woody plants.
 parts of woody plants, including twigs, shoots, and leaves, eaten by forest
animals.
 small bushes, twigs, sprouts, herbaceous plants, small trees, and other
vegetation fed on by wildlife
Camouflage
 colors, tones, patterns that enable an organism to blend in with its
surroundings
 protective coloring that helps hide an animal
 markings or coloration that help disguise an animal so it is less visible to
predators or prey.
 Colours or patterns that make something hard to see.
 To conceal, to cover up.
 an animal's technique of concealing itself by seeming to be part of the
natural background.
Carrion
 the bodies of dead animals
 the dead and rotting body of an animal; unfit for human food
 carcass of a dead animal that becomes food for other scavenging animals
 the dead, decomposing flesh of an animal
 dead and putrefying animal flesh
carrying capacity
 the balance between any life form and its environment
 the maximum number of individuals of a given species that a site can
support during the most unfavorable time of year, without causing
deterioration of the site.
 the maximum number of organisms that can use a given area of habitat
without degrading the habitat and without causing social stresses that
result in the population being reduced.
 The number of animals an area of land can support.
 The population that an area will support without undergoing environmental
deterioration.
 The average number of livestock and/or wildlife that can be sustained on a
management unit
 the maximum biomass, or quantity of animals, that can be grown in an
area without impairing growth and survival.
Chaparral
 dense growth of shrubs or small trees
 A dense, impenetrable thicket of shrubs or dwarf trees.
 A vegetation type dominated by shrubs and small trees, especially
evergreen trees with thick, small leaves.
 refers to areas with broad-leaved evergreen shrubs found in climates with
hot dry summers and mild wet winters.
 A plant community of shrubs adapted to annual drought and often extreme
summer heat, and also highly adapted to fires recurring every five to
twenty years or so.
 Brushy areas where plants such as manzanita, cliff rose, and scrub oak
are the dominant plants.
Riparian
 Located or living along or near a stream, river, or body of water; usually a
type of woodland habitat
 Relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (as a
river) or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater.
 pertaining to, living or situated on, the banks of rivers and streams
 located alongside a watercourse, typically a river.
 relating to the bank or shoreline of a body of water.
 The strip of habitat along streams or lakes, and presumably influenced by
those bodies of water.
 a riverbank ecosystem surrounding a water drainage system (such as a
river or stream) that flows toward the sea.
Competition
 when two or more organisms have the potential for using the same
resource.
 One of the biological interactions that can limit population growth
 the process in which organisms with similar requirements contend for
resources
 The struggle between trees to obtain sunlight, nutrients, water, and
growing space
 The result of a common demand by two or more organisms or types of
organisms for limited resources.
 occurs between organisms using a finite resource, whether they are of the
same or different species.
Commensalism
 a relationship in which organisms live with on, or in another without injury
to either
 a situation in which two organisms are associated in a relationship in which one benefits
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from the relationship and the other is not affected much.
When two organisms coexist, one organism benefits, the other is not affected.
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symbiosis (qv) in which one population (or individual) gains from the association and the
other is neither harmed nor benefited.
The interaction of two or more dissimilar organisms where the association is
advantageous to one without affecting the other(s).
Living with another animal, but not deriving nourishment directly from the host.
Community
 An association of organisms each occupying a certain niche in a
common environment
 an assemblage of populations of different species within a specified location in space
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and time.
an association of interacting populations.
All the groups of organisms living together in the same area, usually interacting or
depending on each other for existence.
an assemblage of species, dependent on each other, and constituting an organized
system through which energy, nutrients, and water are cycled.
All organisms inhabiting a common environment and interacting with one another.
Coniferous
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Cone bearing trees such as pine, fir, and redwood
Cone-bearing trees having needle or scale-like leaves, usually evergreen and producing
wood known commercially as "softwoods."
plants that are mostly evergreen, with narrow needle-like leaves; produce cones for
reproduction. Larch is the only conifer that sheds all of its needles annually.
trees with cones, usually an evergreen tree, though, as an exception, the Tamarack
looses all its leaves each year.
Conservation
 the use of natural resources in a way that assures their continuing availability to future
generations
 the wise and intelligent use or protection of natural resources
 management of the human use of the biosphere so that it may yield the greatest
sustainable benefit to present generations while maintaining its potential to meet the
needs and aspirations of future generations.
 Preserving and renewing natural resources to assure their highest economic or social
benefit over the longest period of time.
 the protection, restoration or sustainability of natural resources.
 e planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or
neglect
consumer
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an organism that utilizes a producer for food
An organism that feeds on other living organisms,
An organism requiring complex organic compounds for food which it obtains by preying
on other organisms or by eating particles of organic matter.
an organism that obtains energy by eating other organisms
The term used to describe an organism which ingests other organisms or food particles.
Deciduous
 Trees that annually shed their leaves
 Having leaves that fall off or are shed seasonally to avoid adverse weather conditions
such as cold or drought.
 Not persistent or evergreen.
 perennial plants which are normally leafless for some time during the year.
 Dropping off; shedding of leaves at the end of the growing season
 Term applied to trees that lose the leaves and have a dormancy period at least once per
year.
 Trees such as cottonwood, willow, walnut, redbud and valley oak.
Evergreen
 A plant that does not lose all of its leaves at one time
 Plant that retains its leaves for more than one growing season.
 never entirely without green foilage, leaves persisting until a new set has appeared.
 Plants whose leaf cover remains alive year-round, though individual leaves may die
and fall.
 Trees such as live oak, pines, spruces, firs, and hemlocks.
Decomposer
 Organisms which convert dead organic material into inorganic materials
 organisms such as fungi and bacteria that feed on dead material causing the chemical
breakdown of the material
 A fungus, sprophytic bacterium, or any other type of animal that obtains nourishment by
breaking down dead organic matter.
 An organism that obtains energy from decaying organic material.
 A name for organisms (often a bacteria or fungus) that feeds on and get their energy from
the break down of dead plant or animal matter.