50 Key Ecological Terms needed for Midterm
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| Abiotic | Nonliving or not containing any living organisms
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| Acceptable daily intake (ADI) | is a measure of the amount of a specific substance that can be ingested (orally) over a lifetime without an appreciable health risk
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| Bioaccumulation | An increase in the concentration of a chemical in
specific organs or tissues at a level higher than would normally be
expected.
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| Biodiversity | The variety of biotic factors found within a specified
geographic region.
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| Biomagnification | the process whereby certain substances such as
pesticides or heavy metals become concentrated in tissues or internal
organs as they move up the chain because the substances are very
persistent and stable.
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| Biome | Complex communities characteristic of a regional climatic zone.
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| Biosphere | The portion of the earth and its atmosphere in which living
organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.
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| Biotic community | Natural grouping of various plant and animal species
within a given habitat.
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| Biotic potential | the maximum reproductive capacity of a population if
resources are unlimited. Full expression of the biotic potential of an
organism is restricted by environmental resistance.
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| Carcinogen | any substance or radiation, that is directly involved in the
development or spread of cancer.
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| Carrying capacity | The amount of organisms that can be supported
indefinitely on available resources
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| Climax community | A relatively stable, self-perpetuating biotic community
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| Chronic toxicity | the toxic, or harmful, effects of a substance on a living
organism due to continuous, repeated, or long-term exposure.
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| Conservation-tillage farming | Crop cultivation in which the soil is
disturbed little (minimum-tillage farming) or not at all (no-till farming) to
reduce soil erosion, lower labor costs, and save energy.
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| Decomposer | organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms,
and in doing so carry out the natural process of decomposition.
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| Deforestation | Removal of trees from a forested area without adequate
replanting.
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| Demographic transition | Hypothesis that countries, as they become
industrialized, have declines in death rates followed by declines in birth
rates.
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| Desertification | Conversion of rangeland or cropland to desert-like land,
with a drop in agricultural productivity of 10% or more.
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| Ecological dominant | Organisms that largely control the flow of energy
through a community.
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| Ecological succession | The gradual replacement of one biotic community
by another over time.
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| Ecosystem | A natural area where living things interact with the chemical
and physical environment.
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| Emissions trading (also known as cap and trade) | is a market-based
approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for
achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.
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| Environmental degradation | A reduction of an ecosystem's ability to
support its natural biotic community.
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| Environmental Justice | The fair tx of people of all races and incomes w/ respect to development, implementation, and enforcement of env. laws, regulations, and policies.
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| Eutrophication | Excessive nutrients in a body of water, usually caused by
runoff , which causes a dense growth of plant life; the decomposition of the
plants depletes the supply of oxygen, leading to the death of animal life
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| Exotic species | Nonnative organisms introduced into an established biotic
community.
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| Food defect action levels | the accepted level of natural or unavoidable
defects that present no health hazards for humans. Food defect action
levels are published by the US Food and Drug Administration.
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| Greenhouse effect | A natural effect that traps heat in the troposphere near earth's surface. If the atmospheric concentrations of these greenhouse gases rise and are not removed by other natural processes, the average temp of the lower atmosphere will gradually increase.
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| Homeostatic control | The physiological capacity of an organism to
regulate itself by rapidly restoring internal conditions following a sudden
perturbation in the external environment
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| Integrated pest management (IPM) | Combined use of biological,
chemical, and cultivation methods in proper sequence and timing to keep
the size of a pest population below the size that causes economically
unacceptable loss of a crop or livestock animal.
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| Inversion layer | A layer of warm air in the atmosphere that prevents the
rise of cooling air and traps pollutants beneath it.
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| Keystone predator | Animal species that moderate competition among
prey species, thereby maintaining greater diversity within the community.
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| Kwashiorkor, n | Type of malnutrition that occurs in infants and very young
children when they are weaned from mother's milk to a starchy diet low in
protein.
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| Limiting factors | Environmental conditions that control where an organism
can live.
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| Lowest observable effect level (LOEL) | The lowest concentration or
amount of a substance found by experiment or observation which causes
an adverse effect on the target organism.
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| Marasmus | Nutritional-deficiency disease caused by a diet that does not
have enough calories and protein to maintain good health.
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| Niche diversification | Adaptations to life in a specific environment that
reduce competition among species for food and living space.
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| Ozone (O3) or trioxygen | is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three
oxygen atoms.
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| Ozone layer | a layer in the stratosphere (at approximately 20 miles) that
contains a concentration of ozone sufficient to block most ultraviolet
radiation from the sun
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| Particulate Matter (PM) | Solid or liquid particles of soot, dust, smoke,
fumes, and aerosols.
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| Pest | An organism which is detrimental to humans or human concerns.
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| Pesticide | Any substance or mixture of substances intended for
preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest
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| Pollutant | A particular chemical or form of energy that can adversely
affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.
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| Population | Individuals of the same species living together within a given
area.
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| Population change, n | An increase or decrease in the size of a population.
It is equal to (births + immigration) - (deaths + emigration).
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| Precautionary principle | env. policy position that states that if an action has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public/environment, w/o scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking the action.
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| Radon | a chemical element that is a radioactive, colorless, odorless,
tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as the decay product of radium.
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| T value (or T level) | For a specific soil, the maximum average annual
soil loss expressed as tons per acre per year that will permit current
production levels to be maintained economically and indefinitely; the soil
loss tolerance level.
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| Teratogen | Any agent that can disturb the development of an embryo or
fetus. Teratogens may cause a birth defect in the child or may halt the
pregnancy outright. The classes of teratogens include radiation, maternal
infections, chemicals, and drugs
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| Trophic level | The relative position occupied by an organism in a food
chain.
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