APES Vocab Fast Track Chapter 3

Riparian Zone

Thin strips and patches of vegetation that surround streams

Euphotic

Upper layer of a body of water through which sunlight can penetrate and support photosynthesis

Limnetic

Upper layer of lake that receives a large amount sunlight

Old Growth Forest

Virgin and old, second growth forests containing trees that are often hundreds years old

Habitat Fragmentation

When large adjacent ecosystems are divided into smaller, more isolated areas by adding housing, cities, roads, or creating agricultural fields

Upwelling

When winds blowing along the coast push warmer surface water away from land and draw up deep cold, nutrient-rich water from the bottom to the top

El Nino

A disruption of the ocean atmosphere system; pushes warmer water toward the Coast of South America

Prevailing

A wind from the direction that is predominant at a particular place or season

Dissolved Oxygen

Amount of oxygen gas dissolved in a given volume of water at a particular temperature and pressure, often expressed as a concentration in parts of oxygen per million parts of water

Benthos

Bottom-welling organisms that live on marine sediments found on the ocean floor

Mass Extinction

Catastrophic, widespread, often global event in which major groups of species are wiped ot over a short time compared with normal extinctions

Source Zone

Contains rivers and streams that are directly fed by mountain snowmelt

Selective Cutting

Cutting of intermediate aged, mature, or diseased in an uneven aged forest stand, either singly or in small groups

Thermocline

Differences in water temperature

La Nina

Follows an El Nino, cools coastal surface water and restores upwelling events

Runoff

Freshwater from precipitation and melting ice that flows on the Earth's surface into streams, lakes, wetlands, and resevoirs

Permafrost

Frozen layer of the soil that forms when the water there freezes

Transition Zone

Has streams and rivers that move turbid waters due to the increase in sediments flowing into them

Strip Cutting

Involves removing an entire strip of trees along the contour of the land in a narrow corridor that allows for quick regeneration of trees

Oligo Trophic

Lake with a low supply of plant nutrients

Inland Wetlands

Land away from the coast such as swamp, marsh, or bog, that is covered all or part of the time with freshwater

Rangelands

Land that supplies forage or vegetation for grazing and browsing animals and is not intensely managed

Bathyl

Little Sunlight

Rain Shadow Effect

Low precipitation on the leeward side of a mountain when prevailing wind flow up and were a high mountain or range of high mountains, creating semi-arid and arid conditions on the leeward side of a high mountain range

Pastures

Managed grasslands or enclosed meadow that usually is planted with domesticated grasses or other footage to be grazed by lifestock

Currents

Mass movements of surface water produced by prevailing winds blowing over the oceans

Abyssal

No sunlight

Background Extinction

Normal extinction of various species as a result of changes in local environment conditions

Eutrophic

Once lakes have accumulated a high concentration of nutrients that support high levels of NPP by producers

Marine vs Freshwater Biomes

Open Oceanic water vs Lentic

Threatened Species

Organisms whose population are declining due to human activity and could become endangered in the future

Endangered Species

Organisms whose population size has decreased to such a low level that they are at extreme risk of becoming extinct over most or all their natural habitat

Cultural Eutrophication

Overnourishment of aquatic ecosystems with plant nutrients because of human activities

Estuaries

Partially enclosed coastal area at the mouth river where it's freshwater, carrying fertile silt and runoff from the land, mixes with salty seawater

Clear Cutting

Removal of all trees in one area at one time

Littoral

Shallow zone that is closest to shore and receives plenty of sun and nutrients and supports a wide variety of life

Plankton

Small plant organisms that float in aquatic ecosystems

Second Growth Forest

Stands of trees resulting from secondary ecological succession

Nekton

Strongly swimming organisms found in aquatic systems

Intertidal Zone

The area of shoreline between low and high tides

Climate

The area's general pattern of atmospheric or weather conditions over long periods of time

Greenhouse Effect

The difference between the natural atmospheric temperature and temperature we actually experience is accounted for by the warming properties of the Earth's atmosphere

Watershed

The drainage basin

Coriolis Effect

The earth's rotation causes winds to be deflected to the right of the northern hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere

Weather

The local areas short term temperature, precipitation, and other physical conditions of the troposphere measured over hours or days

Turbidity

The measure of how cloudy the water is due to suspended sediments or solids and greatly reduces sunlight reaching photosynthetic organisms