Chapter 55 Flashcards
Deforestation
Clearing of trees, transforming a forest into cleared land
Genetic Diversity
The diversity of alleles in a population, species, or group of species.
Sustainability
The planned use of environmental resources at a rate no faster than the rate at which they are naturally replaced
Species diversity
The variety and relative abundance of the species present in a given ecological community
Exotic species
A non-native species that is introduced into a new area. Exotic species often are competitors, pathogens, or predators of native species
Ecosystem services
Alterations of the physical components of an ecosystem by living organisms, especially beneficial changes in the quality of the atmosphere, soil, water, etc.
Ecosystem diversity
The variety of biotic components in a region along with abiotic components, such as soil, water, and nutrients
Endangered species
A species whose numbers have decreased so much that it is in danger of extinction throughout all or part of its range
Net primary productivity
In an ecosystem, the total amount of carbon fixed by photosynthesis over a given time minus the amount oxidized during cellular respiration
Environmental sequencing
The inventory of all the genes in a community or ecosystem by sequencing, analyzing, and comparing the genomes of the component organisms
Habitat destruction
Human-caused destruction of a natural habitat with replacement by an urban, suburban, or agricultural land scape
Habitat fragmentation
The break up of a large region of a habitat into many smaller regions, separated from others by different type of habitat
Resistance
A measure of how much a community is affected by disturbance
Hot spot
a small area or region with great species richness and biodiversity
Biomass
The total mass of all organisms in a given population or geographical area; usually expressed as oil dry weight
