Terms : Hide Images
| 153298914 | Biodiversity Hot Spot | A relatively small area with an exceptional concentration of endemic species and a large number of endangered and threatened species | |
| 153298915 | Biological Augmentation | an approach to restoration ecology that uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem | |
| 153298916 | Bioremediation | the use of living organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems | |
| 153298917 | Biosphere | The entire portion of Earth inhabited by life; the sum of all the planet's ecosystems. | |
| 153298918 | Conservation Biology | The integrated study of ecology, evolutionary biology, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, and behavioral biology in an effort to sustain biological diversity at all levels. | |
| 153298919 | Ecosystem Service | A function performed by an ecosystem that directly or indirectly benefits humans. | |
| 153298920 | Effective Population Size | An estimate of the size of a population based on the numbers of females and males that successfully breed; generally smaller than the total population. | |
| 153298921 | Endangered Species | a species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range | |
| 153298922 | Extinction Vortex | A downward population spiral in which positive-feedback loops of inbreeding and genetic drift cause a small population to shrink, and unless reversed, become extinct. | |
| 153298923 | Introduced Species | A species moved by humans, either intentionally or accidentally, from its native location to a new geographic region; also called an exotic species. | |
| 153298924 | Landscape | An area containing several different ecosystems linked by exchanges of energy, materials, and organisms. | |
| 153298925 | Minimum Viable Population (MVP) | the minimal population size at which a species is able to sustain its numbers and survive | |
| 153298926 | Movement Corridor | a series of small clumps or a narrow strip of quality habitat (usable by organisms) that connects otherwise isolated patches of quality habitat | |
| 153298927 | Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) | A technique for amplifying DNA in vitro by incubating with special primers, DNA polymerase molecules, and nucleotides. | |
| 153298928 | Restoration Ecology | Applying ecological principles in an effort to return ecosystems that have been disturbed by human activity to a condition as similar as possible to their natural state. | |
| 153298929 | Sustainable Development | Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. | |
| 153298930 | Threatened Species | a species that could become endangered in the near future | |
| 153298931 | Zoned Reserve | an extensive region of land that includes one or more areas that are undisturbed by humans; the undisturbed areas are surrounded by lands that have been altered by human activity | |
| 153298932 | Law of conservation of mass | the law that states that mass cannot be created or destroyed in ordinary chemical and physical changes | |
| 153298933 | Standing crop | total biomass of photosynthetic autotrophs present at a given time | |
| 153298934 | Greenhouse effect | natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases | |
| 153298935 | Detritivores (decomposer) | consumers that get their energy from nonliving organic material | |
| 153298936 | Pyramid of net production | the representation of the loss of energy with each transfer in a food chain in which trophic levels are stacked in blocks, with primary producers forming the foundation of the pyramid | |
| 153298937 | Primary producers | Photosynthesizing organisms. | |
| 153298938 | Secondary production | The amount of chemical energy in consumers' food that is converted to their own new biomass during a given time period | |
| 153298939 | Gross primary production (GPP) | the amount of light energy that is converted to chemical energy by photosynthesis per unit time | |
| 153298940 | Net primary production (NPP) | the gross primary production of an ecosystem minus the energy used by the producers for respiration. | |
| 153298941 | Actual evapotranspiration | the amount of water annually transpired by plants and evaporated from a landscape, usually measured in millimeters | |
| 153298942 | Turnover time | The time required to replace the standing crop of a population or group of populations (for example, of phytoplankton), calculated as the ratio of standing crop biomass to production | |
| 153298943 | Biogeochemical cycles | process in which elements, chemical compounds, and other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another | |
| 153298944 | Secondary consumers | The carnivores in an ecosystem; organisms that feed on primary consumers | |
| 153298945 | Production efficiency | The percentage of energy stored in food that is not used for respiration or eliminated as waste. | |
| 153298946 | Green world hypothesis | The conjecture that terrestrial herbivores consume relatively little plant biomass because they are held in check by a variety of factors, including predators, parasites, and disease | |
| 153298947 | Tertiary consumers | Carnivores that eat other Carnivores, The top carnivores in an ecosystem; organisms that feed on secondary consumers | |
| 153298948 | Biological magnification | increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web | |
| 153298949 | Primary production | the amount of light energy converted to chemical energy (organic compounds) by autotrophs in an ecosystem during a given time period | |
| 153298950 | Critical load | the amount of added nutrient, usually nitrogen or phosphorus, that can be absorbed by plants without damaging ecosystem integrity. | |
| 153298951 | Primary consumers | The herbivores in an ecosystem; organisms that feed on primary producers | |
| 153298952 | Trophic efficiency | The percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next. | |
| 153298953 | Eutrophication | process by which a body of water becomes too rich in dissolved nutrients, leading to plant growth that depletes oxygen | |
| 153298954 | Limiting nutrient | single nutrient that either is scarce or cycles very slowly, limiting the growth of organisms in an ecosystem | |
| 153298955 | Detritus | loose bits and pieces of material resulting from disintegration or wearing away; fragments that result from any destruction |
