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definitions for enviro exam 1

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Term
Definition
Ecology   The study of the interaction of organisms with one another and with their environment  
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Environmental Science   the study of the interaction between living and non-living things with the goal of understanding how the environmental works, finding solutions to environmental problems, or both  
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Environmentalism   A way of thinking and a movement of political activism based on a common conviction that our natural environment should be protected  
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Reductionism   natural objects and processes can be explained by studying their parts  
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Holism   living nature is a scheme of interactions whereby the whole is more than the sum of its parts  
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Sustainable Development   development that provides people with a better life without sacrificing or depleting resources or causing environmental impacts that will undercut the ability of future generations to meet their needs  
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The Scientific Method   a simple way of gaining knowledge: observation, hypothesis, test, and theory  
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Neolithic Revolution   the development of agriculture by humans some 10,000 years ago leading to more permanent settlement and population increases  
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Industrial Revolution   the development of manufacturing processes using fossil fuels and based on the application of scientific knowledge and technology  
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Environmental Revolution   a change in the adaptation of humans to the rising deterioration of the environment  
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Population   a group within a single species whose individuals can do freely and interbreed  
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Ecosystem   a grouping of plants, animals, and other organisms interacting with each other and with their environment in such a way as to perpetuate the grouping more or less indefinetly. They have characteristic forms: deserts, grasslands, tundra, deciduous forests  
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Biome   a group of ecosystems that are related by having a similar type of vegetation governed by similar climatic conditions.  
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Biosphere   the overall ecosystem of Earth. All ecosystems and biomes are interconnected and inner dependent through gloabal processes: water cycle, atmospheric cycle  
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Pollution   any material that's out of place  
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Overpopulation   too many people using too many resources  
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Engineering method   identify problem, propose solution, test solution, implement solution in real syste and monitor effectiveness  
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Producers   organisms that capture energy from the Sun or from chemicals in the environment to convert carbon dioxide to organic matter  
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Consumers   feed directly on producers or on other consumers  
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Decomposers   feed on detritus  
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Organic   all those materials that make up the bodies of living organisms  
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Inorganic   materials and chemicals in air, water, rocks, and minerals which exist apart from the activity of living organisms  
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Autotrophs   produce their own organic material from inorganic constituents in their environment through the use of an external energy source  
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Heterotrophs   consume organic material to obtain energy: divided into numerous subcategories: consumers and decomposers  
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Food Chain   the transfer of energy and material through a series of organisms as each one is fed upon by the next  
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Food Web   the combination of all the feeding relationships that exist in an ecosystem  
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Trophic Levels   feeding level with respect to the primary cource of energy. Plants are the first, primary consumers are second, secondary consumers and so on  
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Sybiosis   Living together - 3 types  
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Mutualism   both organisms benefit  
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Parasitism   one organism benefits, the other does not  
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Commensalism   one organism benefits and the other one is not harmed  
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Competition   organisms living in the same area and using the same resources and must share the resources; reduced by each species living in its own habitat or niche  
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Competitive exclusion   no two organisms can inhabit the same habitat for a period of time  
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Habitat   where an organism lives  
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Niche   what the organism does in the place that they live  
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Resource partitioning   two organisms who rely on the same resources have adapted to different areas in the habitat or different hunting times so they do not have fierce competition and both can survive  
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Biotic Communities   the grouping or assembly of plants, animals, and microbes we observe when we study a natural forest, grassland, a pond or some other undisturbed area  
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Abiotic Communities   non-living, chemical and physical factors such as the amount of water or moisture present, temperature, salinity, type of soil in a given area  
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Energy   the ability to do work  
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Kinetic Energy   energy of motion: heat and light  
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Potential Energy   stored energy: firewood, battery  
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Entropy   the amount of energy in a system that is NOT available to do work : disorder  
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Thermodynamics   how energy is transformed: 2 types  
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1st Law of Thermodynamics   energy can only be transferred from one source to another, it can neither be created nor destroyed  
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2nd Law of Thermodynamics   no process involving energy transformation can spontaneously occur unless it's from a high concentration to a low concentration, energy is always lost  
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Carnivore   an animal that feeds on other animals  
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Herbivore   an animal that feeds only on plant materials  
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Omnivore   an animal that feeds on both plant and animal material  
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Photosynthesis   the chemical process carried on my green plants through which light energy is used to produce glucose from carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen  
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Resource Depletion   resources are stresswed because of the demands of an expanding population oand affluence-driven consumption per person. This leads to global atmospheric changes, loss of biodiversity, and the decline of ecosystems  
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Exponential Growth   rapid amount of growth in a short period of time  
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Linear Growth   a steady growth or no growth at all during a period of time  
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Stewardship   one of the 3 strategic themes that must be embraced by our society in order to move toward a sustainable future. It represents the ethical and moral framework that should inform our public and private actions  
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Detritus Based Food Web   a food web with decomposers. they are needed to break down the remains of dead organisms to recycle nutrients and energy so they can be used again. Food webs/chains wouldn't exist withouth detritus feeders  
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Grazine Food Web   a food web without decomposers: could not last long in real life situations  
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