USDA Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers
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VocabularyAAdapt – To grow and change in response to environmental conditions. Adaptation – Special body features or behaviors adapted to the environment. BBiodiversity – The diverse variety of life forms: different plants, animals and micro-organisms; and the eco-systems they form. Genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. CCarnivore – (Secondary Consumer) Animals that don’t eat plants, but feed on animals that do eat plants. DDecomposer – Animal that breaks down dead or decomposing plant materials, thus recycling important nutrients and returning them to the environment. EEcosystem – A dynamic system of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and non-living components interacting as an ecological unit. Endangered – Animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range due loss of habitat, over exploitation, competition or disease. Environment – Complex web of inter-relationships between living organisms and non-living components, which sustain all life on earth. FFauna – All of the animals found in an area. Flora – All of the plants found in an area. Food Web – A group of interlinked food chains. Involves herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, scavengers and decomposers, so that no available source of energy is allowed to go to waste. HHabitat – Place where an animal or plant lives which provides food, water, shelter. Herbivore – (Primary Consumer) Animals that eat primarily plants. MMetamorphosis – The process of change from young to adult. Migration – The seasonal, usually 2-way movement from habitat to another to avoid unfavorable climatic conditions. NNative – Indigenous to and dwelling within a specific area for an entire lifespan. Nectar – A sugary fluid produced by flowers to attract animal pollinators. PPetal – Colorful flower parts that surround the floral reproductive structures. Pistil – The collective female floral reproductive parts including the stigma, style and ovary. Pollen – Pollen bears sperm for plant reproduction. Pollen Tube – Tube formed after germination of the pollen grain. It carries the male reproductive information to the ovule. Pollinated – A flower in which the female parts of a flower have received pollen from the male parts of the same flower, or another flower. Pollination – The spreading of pollen from the male parts to the female parts of a flower of the same species, resulting in the production of seeds and fruits. Pollinator – Animal that carries pollen from the male parts of flowers to the female parts, fertilizing plant “eggs” with plant “sperm.” Primary Producer – All food chains begin with green plants (“primary producers”) with a process called photosynthesis. Energy from the sun lands on plants and is collected by chlorophyll, with which plants make sugar and oxygen, food for other animals. SSeed – Part of the plant that is capable of growing (germinating) and producing a new plant. Stamen – Name for the male floral reproductive parts, including the anthers and filaments. TThreatened – Species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future, without special protection and management efforts. |
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Last modified: Tuesday, 24-Jun-2008 21:54:48 EDT