click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Chapter 5 Vocab
Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Biodiversity | Number of different species living in a specific area. |
| Ecosystem | Biological community and all the nonliving factors that affect it. |
| Extinction | The disappearance of a species when the last of its members dies. |
| Genetic Diversity | Variety of inheritable characteristics or genes in an interbreeding population. |
| Species Diversity | In a biological community, the number and abundance of different species. |
| Background Extinction | Gradual process of species becoming extinct. |
| Biological Magnification | Increasing concentration of toxic substances, such as DDT, in organisms as tropic levels increase in food chains or food webs. |
| Edge Effect | Any different environmental condition occurring along an ecosystem's boundaries. |
| Eutrophicaton | Water pollution form nitrogen-rich and phosphorus-rich substances flowing into waterways, causing algal overgrowth. |
| Habitat Fragmentation | Habitat loss form separation of an ecosystem into small pieces of land. |
| Introduced Species | Nonnative species deliberately or accidentally introduced into a new habitat. |
| Mass Extinction | A large-scale dying out of a large percentage of all living organisms in an area within a short time. |
| Natural Resources | Any material or organism in the biosphere, including water, soil, fuel,and plants and animals. |
| Overexploitation | Overuse of species with economic value-a fact in species extinction. |
| Biological Augmentation | Technique of adding essential materials to a degraded ecosystem. |
| Bioremediation | Technique using living organisms to detoxify a polluted area. |
| Endemic | Large outbreak of a pragmatical disease in a specific area. |
| Nonrenewable Resource | Any natural resource available in limited amounts or replaced extremely slowly by natural processes. |
| Renewable Resource | Any resource replaced by natural processes more equivalency than it is consumed. |
| Sustainable use | Use of resources at a rate that they can be replaced or recycled. |