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Chapter 6 vocab
vocabulary words on chapter 6
Term | Definition |
---|---|
agriculture | the practice of farming |
monoculture | farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop year after year |
Green Revolution | the development of highly productive crop strains and the use of modern agricultural techniques to increase yields of food crops |
renewable resource | resources that can regenerate quickly and that is replaceable |
nonrenewable resource | resource that cannot be replenished by natural processes |
sustainable development | using natural resources at a rate that does not deplete them |
soil erosion | wearing away of surface soil by water and wind |
desertification | in areas with dry climates, a process caused by a combination of poor farming practices, overgrazing, and drought that turns productive land into desert |
deforestation | destruction of forests |
aquaculture | the raising of aquatic organisms for human consumption |
smog | mixture of chemicals that occurs as a gray-brown haze in the atmosphere |
pollutant | harmful material that can enter the biosphere through the land, air, and water |
acid rain | rain containing nitric acid and sulfuric acid |
biodiversity | biological diversity; the sum total of the variety of organisms in the biosphere |
ecosystem diversity | variety of habitats, living communities, and ecological processes in the living world |
species diversity | number of different species in the biosphere |
genetic diversity | sum total of all the different forms of genetic information carried by all organisms living on Earth today |
extinction | disappearance of a species from all parts of its geological range |
endangered species | species whose population size is rapidly declining and will become extinct if the trend continues |
habitat fragmentation | splitting of ecosystems into small fragments |
biological magnification | increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web |
invasive species | plants and animals that have migrated to places where they are not native |
conservation | wise management of natural resources, including the preservation of habitats and wildlife |
ozone layer | atmospheric layer in which ozone gas is relatively concentrated |
global warming | increase in the average temperature temperatures on Earth |