Biology Chapter 3 Vocabulary

kind of wetland formed where a river meets the ocean

• permafrost

• plankton

• wetland

• estuary

ecosystem in which water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface for at least part of the year

• estuary

• wetland

• taiga

• humus

microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments; includes both phytoplankton and zooplankton

• understory

• canopy

• plankton

• humus

dark layer of the oceans below the photic zone where sunlight does not penetrate

• aphotic zone

• taiga

• understory

• photic zone

sunlight region near the surface of water

• aphotic zone

• biome

• permafrost

• photic zone

layer of permanently frozen subsoil found in the tundra

• canopy

• permafrost

• taiga

• humus

biome with long cold winters and a few months of warm weather; dominated by coniferous evergreens; also called boreal forest

• taiga

• canopy

• understory

• humus

material formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter

• biome

• canopy

• understory

• humus

layer in a rainforest underneath the canopy formed by shorter trees and vines

• taiga

• plankton

• understory

• permafrost

dense covering formed by the leafy tops of tall rainforest trees

• wetland

• canopy

• estuary

• taiga