Venomous coral snake

Non-venomous red milk snake.

(GR) Organisms that derive their energy from sunlight. (EoE)

An autotroph  is an organism that produces complex organic compounds (such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) from simple inorganic molecules using energy from light (by photosynthesis) or inorganic chemical reactions (chemosynthesis). They are the producers in a food chain, such as plants on land or algae in water. They are able to make their own food and can fix carbon. (Wikipedia)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotroph

A community of plants and animals covering a large region on earth. Tundra, desert, tropical rainforest, and prairie are examples of biomes.

[Lanee] Deflection in the pattern of air or water flow as Eartth rotates. Air masses and all moving objects in the Northern Hemisphere are deflected clockwise (to the right), and in the Southern Hemisphere counter-clockwise (to the left). This deflection is due to the law of angular motion which states the momentum of an object moving from a greater circumference to a less circumference will deflect in the direction of the spin, and an object moving from a lesser circumference to a greater circumference will deflect in the direction opposite that of the spin. This phenomena is named after the 19^th century French mathematician G.C. Coriolis.

(James) A strip of a particular type of vegetation that connects patches of habitat.  The landscape of the corridor is different than the landscaping on adjacent sides.  Corridors provide connectivity between landscape patches.

http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/news/images/Pics/24%20Corridors.jpg

(Lauren) a transition zone or border between two different communities

Example:  In the picture to the right, the shrubs form an ecotone between the grassland and the forest communities.

http://www.bioed.org/nhguideweb/HabitatDesc/SagebrushShrubland.jpg

From: http://gaiaecoconsultants.ca/HCVF/plants.jpg

--An example is the Chesapeake Bay!

--Great website on nation-wide estuaries and related info:

http://www.estuaries.gov/

Image Citation: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/chrpwe/home

Great website for discussion of effects of eutrophication:

http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/hypoxia101.htm

Picture showing process of eutrophication:

Citation:  http://www.epa.gov/msbasin/images/eutro_big.jpg

Evolution 101, an excellent evolution website!

Functional Response

(Liz) A predator’s functional response represents the relationship between its per capita rate of consumption of prey as a function of prey population density and the efficiency of predation.  Functional responses are divided into Types I, II, and III based on whether or not they account for the predator’s time budget as it pertains to handling and/or pursuing prey and/or prey switching.

Greenhouse

Effe

CAV: The rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere

(water vapor, C02, nitrous oxide, methane) trap energy from the sun. The trapping of long wavelength radiation leads to more heating and warming. Without this effect the Earth's average temperature would be about 60 degrees (F) cooler.

When the nutrients enter the water algae blooms develop. The alga feeds off of the nutrients, increasing in number. As the algae die, their decomposition is done by bacteria that use oxygen. As the decomposing algae sink they rob the water and the bottom of the area of oxygen. Animals that normally live at the bottom either move or die.

(Liz) A complex sequence of metabolic reactions wherein energy from sunlight is used to convert carbon dioxide and water into simple organic compounds. 

(Erik) Poikilotherm: An organism whose body temperature varies according to the temperature of its surroundings.  These ectothermic species gain body heat through environmental energy sources rather than from within; therefore, their body temperature fluctuates much more sharply in response to external conditions.  The operative temperature range for these species is wide and can even pass below the freezing point of water through supercooling capabilities.

Green dots indicate poikilotherms.

soil horizon

[Kari] A specific layer in the soil which extends parallel to the soil surface and possesses physical characteristics which differ from the layers above and beneath. Horizon formation is a function of a range of geological, chemical, and biological processes and occurs over long time periods. Soils vary in the degree to which horizons are expressed.

(Erik) The probability that a representative newborn individual in a cohort will survive to various ages.  Type I is common in humans, other mammals, and some plants.  Type II is common in rodents, birds, reptiles and many perennial plants.  Type III is common in invertebrates, fish, shellfish, and many plants.  The use of a log scale on the y-axis allows for simultaneous graphical representation of this phenomenon for all three types.

This is a forest in British Columbia, Canada and the range

of the Mountain Pine Beetle.  From http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect3/Sect3_5a.html

Gaines, S. & Airame, S. 2009. Upwelling. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.  http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02quest/background/upwelling/upwelling.html

During upwelling, winds blowing along the coastline from north to south push surface waters offshore.

• The zero-growth isocline for species 1, at constant levels of species 2, can be visualized with a phase-plane diagram:

• The zero-growth isocline for species 2, at constant levels of species 1, can be visualized as follows: