Chapter 21 Vocabulary Flashcards
Biodiversity
The variety of a biological system, typically conceived as the number of species, but also applying to genes, biochemistry, and ecosystems.
Biodiversity hotspot
A concept originated by Norman Myers to describe a geographical region with a large number of endemic species and a large percentage of degraded habitat.
Bush meat
A wild-caught animal used as food (typically mammals, birds, and reptiles); usually referring to hunting in the tropics of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Chemical diversity
The variety of metabolic compounds in an ecosystem
Chytridiomycosis
A disease of amphibians caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; thought to be a major cause of the global amphibian decline
Ecosystem diversity
The variety of ecosystems
Endemic species
A species native to one place
Exotic species
(also, invasive species) a species that has been introduced to an ecosystem in which it did not evolve.
Extinction
The disappearance of a species from Earth; local extinction is the disappearance of a species from a region.
Extinction rate
The number of species becoming extinct over time, sometimes defined as extinctions per million species–years to make numbers manageable (E/MSY)
Genetic diversity
The variety of genes and alleles in a species or other taxonomic group or ecosystem; the term can refer to allelic diversity or genome-wide diversity.
Habitat heterogeneity
The number of ecological niches
Secondary plant compound
A compound produced as a byproduct of plant metabolic processes that is typically toxic, but is sequestered by the plant to defend against herbivores.
Species-area relationship
The relationship between area surveyed and number of species encountered; typically measured by incrementally increasing the area of a survey and determining the cumulative number of species.
Tragedy of the commons
An economic principle that resources held in common will inevitably be over-exploited
