Environmental Biology - Terms
Attitides Toward Nature
bestiary
Balance of Nature
- natural theology
- argument from design
- balance of nature
- limiting factors
- intrinsic limiting factors
- extrinsic limiting factors
- density-dependent limiting factors
- density-independent limiting factors
- biotic environment
- keystone predator
- exotic species
Earth Systems
- electromagnetic radiation
- EM spectrum
- energy flux
- wavelength
- frequency
- lithosphere
- crust
- mantle
- core
- hydrosphere
- atmosphere
- biosphere
- continental drift
- biotic environment
- abiotic (physical) environment
- population
- biotic (or biological) community
- ecosystem
- biome
- system
- isolated system
- closed system
- open system
- steady state
- systems science
- systems measurement
- data analysis
- systems modeling
- system optimization
- self regulation
- feedback loop
- positive feedback
- negative feedback
- Gaia hypothesis
Cycles of Nutrients and Materials
- First Law of Thermodynamics
- Second Law of Thermodynamics
- entropy
- kinetic energy
- potential energy
- photosynthesis
- respiration
- glucose
- chemical bond
- adenosine diphosphate (ADP)
- adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
- autotroph (producer)
- heterotroph (consumer)
- water cycle
- runoff
- groundwater
- water table
- aquifer
- transpiration
- evaporation
- evapotranspiration
- carbon cycle
- fossil fuels
- nitrogen cycle
- ammonium
- nitrate
- nitrogen fixation
- nitrifying bacteria
- urea
- uric acid
- denitrification
- phosphate
Energy Flow and Ecosystem Structuure
- ecology
- natural history
- biological community
- habitat
- ecosystem
- niche
- food chain
- food web
- producers
- consumers
- autotroph
- heterotroph
- trophic levels
- predators
- prey
- pyramid of numbers
- pyramid of energy
- photosynthesis
- gross primary production (GPP)
- net primary production (NPP)
- endotherm
- ectotherm
- predator/prey ratio
- Charles Elton
- Raymond Lindeman
Equilibrium, Feedback, and Disturbance
- Frederick Clements
- community structure
- superorganism
- succession
- primary succession
- secondary succession
- climax community
- colonizers
- r selection
- Kselection
- life history strategies
- niche
- equilibrium theory
- non-equilibrium theory
- disturbance
- predator-prey cycles
History of Life
- open system
- steady state
- entropy
- emergent properties
- panspermia
- prokaryote (prokaryotic cell)
- Domain
- Archaea
- Bacteria
- Eukarya
- methanogens
- halophilic bacteria
- thermophilic bacteria
- cyanobacteria
- stromatolites
- banded-iron deposits
- red beds
- aerobic
- anaerobic
- fermentation (anaerobic
respiration)
- oxygen revolution
- eukaryote (eukaryotic cell)
- organelles
- endosymbiosis
- Ediacaran fauna
- Cambrian explosion
- Burgess Shale
- Charles Doolittle Walcott
- Pikaia (your ancestor!)
Biodiversity and Extinction
- speciation
- extinction
- mass extinction
- background extinction
- Red Queen hypothesis
- Cuvier
- catastrophism
- uniformitarianism
- geographic isolation
- reproductive isolation
- gene flow
- mutations
- natural selection
- adaptation
- genetic bottleneck
- founder effect
- genetic drift
- species (biological species concept)
- generalists
- specialists
- periodic extinctions
- Oort Cloud
- Planet X
- Nemesis
- Pleistocene Blitzkrieg
- endangered species
Conservation I - Ecosystems as Islands
- Dodo
- Passenger Pigeon
- Rachel Carson
- Silent Spring
- simplification (of ecosystems)
- exotic species (know examples also)
- land conversion
- habitat loss
- fragmentation
- deforestation (tropic vs. temperate pattern)
- theory of island biogeography
- dispersal ability
- waif dispersal
- rate of immigration
- rate of extinction
- equilibrium number of species
- Krakatoa
- neotropical migrant
- conservation biology
- game species
- non-game species
- resource management
- consumptive use
- non-consumptive use
- biodiversity
- alpha/beta/gamma diversity
- genetic diversity
- species diversity
- species richness
- species evenness
- species dominance
- ecological diversity
Conservation I - Ecosystems as Islands
- area-sensitive species
- habitat heterogeneity
- biotic interactions
- secondary extinctions
- edge effect
- interior edge
- cowbirds
- brood parasitism
- Bubba Effect
- corridors
- metapopulation
- winking patches
- rescue effect
- Y2Y corridor
- MVP - minimum viable population
- 50/500 rule
- ISIS (zoos)
- ACRES (Audubon Institute)
Population Ecology
- Thomas Malthus
- population principle
- struggle for existence
- Poor Laws
- R - replacement rate
- seasonal breeders
- geometric model
- r - instantaneous growth rate
- exponential model
- birth rate
- death rate
- continuous breeders
- K - carrying capacity
- logistic model
Human Population
- carrying capacity
- overpopulation
- hunter-gatherers
- life expectancy
- biosphere
- fertility rate
- demographic transition
- age structure of popn.
- population projection
- net population growth (NPG)
- zero NPG
- Cairo Conference
- human footprint
Soil - Fertility and Degradation
- swidden agriculture
- soil degradation
- detritivore
- humus
- soil structure
- soil horizons
- soil profile
- O horizon
- A horizon
- top soil
- E horizon
- B horizon
- subsoil
- C horizon
- parent material
- no-till farming
- desertification
- salinization
- Dust Bowl
- windbreaks
- contour plowing
Agriculture, Food, and Water
- fisheries
- territorial limit
- Economic Exclusion Zone
- aquaculture
- tragedy of the commons
- factory fleet
- trawling
- rangeland
- pasture land
- cropland
- per capita harvest
- Green Revolution
- dwarf hybrid strains
- photosynthate
- per capita area of grain harvest
- malnutrition
- oil crops
- luxury crops
- irrigation
- water table
- aquifer
- recharge rate
- acre-foot (of water)
- drip irrigation
Fossil Fuels and their Global Impact
- electricity
- electric generator
- turbine
- water turbine (hydroelectricity)
- gas turbine
- steam turbine
- fossil fuels
- strip mining
- fracking (hydraulic fracturing)
- Black Lung disease
- conversion efficiency
- fluidized bed combustion
- synthetic fuels (synfuels)
- liquified natural gas
- OPEC
- Arab oil embargo
- Trans-Alaskan pipeline
- Standard Oil
Fossil Fuels - Alternate Sources of Energy
- Exxon-Valdez oil spill
- Persian Gulf War
- nuclear power
- breeder reactor
- nuclear fission
- Uranium
- isotopes
- U-235/U-238
- enrichment
- radioactive decay
- half-life
- chain reaction
- moderator
- heavy water
- graphite
- nuclear reactor
- reactor vessel
- fuel rods
- control rods
- containment building
- double loop
- nuclear meltdown
- radioactive wastes
- NIMBY
- Chelyabinsk-65
- Lake Karachay
- Tokaimura
- Three Mile Island
- Chernobyl
- nuclear fusion
- wind power
- water power (hydroelectricity)
- geothermal energy
- bioconversion
- solar power
- photovoltaic cell (PVC)
- electrolysis
- hydrogen fuel cells
Global Climate Change I
- global warming
- greenhouse effect
- greenhouse gases
- climate
- tilt of axis
- eccentricity (of orbit)
- precession
- Milankovitch Cycles
- pole star
- Polaris
- Thuban
- Vega
- isotopes
- oxygen isotope ratio
- 16O / 18O
- deep-sea sediment cores
Global Climate Change II
- climate aberration
- Younger Dryas
- Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum
- Medieval Warm Period
- Little Ice Age
- climate proxy records
- tree rings
- pollen grains
- coral growth rings
- geomorphology
- terminal moraine
- glacial erratic
- Ice Ages
- isotope
- isotope ratios
- ice cores
- deep-sea sediment cores
- oceanic conveyor belt
- climate forcing
- positive climate forcing
- negative climate forcing
- planetary albedo
- methane
- clathrate
- nitrous oxide
Global Climate Change III-IV
- EFF - environmental forcing factor
- residence time
- removal time
- ozone
- tropospheric ozone
- aerosol
- sulfate aerosol
- dust aerosol
- organic aerosol
- black carbon aerosol (soot)
- Year Without a Summer (1816)
- Twomey Effect
- carbon sink
- CO2 fertilization
- water efficiency (plants)
- oceanic conveyor belt
- CFC's
- thermal expansion
- Kyoto Conference of 1997
- subsidence
- coastal marsh
- delta
Global Atmospheric Change
- Donoran Death Fog
- temperature inversion
- thermal inversion
- hydrocarbons
- primary pollutants
- secondary pollutants
- particulates
- volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)
- lead, leaded gasoline
- nitrogen oxides
- sulfur oxides
- carbon monoxide
- incomplete combustion
- smog
- industrial smog
- photochemical smog
- Clean Air Act of 1970
- atmosphere
- troposphere
- stratosphere
- ozone
- photochemical oxidant
- ozone layer
- ultraviolet radiation (UV)
- CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons)
- ozone hole
- tropospheric ozone
- acid precipitation
- acid rain
- acid deposition
- acid
- base
- ion
- Hydroxide ion
- Hydrogen ion
- pH
- buffer
Global Change and Aquatic Systems
- point source
- nonpoint source
- runoff
- heavy metals
- bioaccumulation
- biomagnification
- Minamata Disease
- dissolved oxygen (DO)
- biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
- eutrophication
- oligotrophic
- eutrophic
- turbidity
- benthic plants
- submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)
- emergents
- phytoplankton
- cultural eutrophication
Talking Trash
- midden
- municipal solid waste (MSW)
- dumps
- incinerators
- landfills
- leachate
- biogas
- landfill gas plant
- landfill liner
- Univ. of Arizona Garbage Project
- garbologist
- lightweighting
- national bottle law
Louisiana - Polluter's Paradise: Environmental Racism
- Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
- synergistic effects
- Chemical Corridor
- Cancer Alley
- aquifer
- injection well
- environmental racism
- environmental equity
- grass-roots activism
- Shintech
- carcinogen
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