Question | Answer |
Natural Resource | anything in the environment that is used by people |
Renewable Resource | are either always available or are naturally replaced in a relatively short time |
Nonrenewable Resource | natural resources that are not replaced in a useful time frame |
Pollution | the contamination of the Earth's land, water, or air |
Environmental Science | the study of natural processes in the environment and how humans can affect them |
Clear-cutting | the process of cutting down all of the trees in one area at once |
Selective-cutting | cutting down only some trees in a forest and leaving a mix of tree sizes and species behind |
Sustainable yield | an amount of a renewable recourse such as trees that can be harvested regularly without reducing the future supply |
Fishery | an area with a large population of valuable ocean organisms |
Aquaculture | the practice of raising fish and other water-dwelling organisms for food |
Biodiversity | the number of different species in an area |
Keystone Species | a species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem |
Genes | the structures in an organism's cells that carry its hereditary information |
Extinction | the disappearance of all members of a species from Earth |
Endangered Species | species in danger of becoming extinct in the near future |
Threatened Species | species that could become endangered in the near future |
Habitat Destruction | the loss of a natural habitat |
Habitat Fragmentation | breaking larger habitats into smaller, isolated pieces, or fragments |
Poaching | the illegal killing or removal of wildlife from their habitats |
Captive Breeding | the mating of animals in zoos or wildlife preserves |
Taxol | the substance that protects the Pacific yew tree |