Chapter 55 Flashcards
Exotic species
A nonnative species that is introduced into a new area. Exotic species often are competitors, pathogens, or predators of native species.
Biomass
The total mass of all organisms in a given population or geographical area; usually expressed as dry weight
Ecosystem services
Alterations of the physical components of an ecosystem by living organisms especially beneficial changes on the quality of atmosphere soil or water
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 number have decreased so much that it is in danger of extinction throughout all or part of its range.
Environmental sequencing
The inventory of all the genes in a community or ecosystem by sequencing, analyzing, and comparing the genomes of the component organisms.
Endemic species
A species that lives in one geographic area and nowhere else.
Genetic diversity
The diversity of alleles in a population, species, or group of species.
Habitat destruction
Human-caused destruction of a natural habitat with replacement by an urban, suburban, or agricultural landscape.
Habitat fragmentation
The breakup of a large region of a habitat into many smaller regions, separated from others by a different type of habitat.
Net primary productivity
In an ecosystem, the total amount of carbon fixed by photosynthesis over a given time period minis the amount oxidized during cellular respiration.
Resistance
A measure of how much a community is affected by a disturbance.
Resilience
A measure of how quickly a community recovers following a disturbance.
Species-area relationships
The mathematical relationship between the area of a certain habitat and the number of species that it can support.
Sustainability
The planned use of environmental resources at a rate no faster than the rate at which they are naturally replaced.
