Human Impact Notes Flashcards
What is biodiversity
how many different species are in an area
What is biological magnification
The increase in concentration of certain pollutants as you move up the trophic levels in an ecosystem.
What are environmental parameters
provide an indication of how healthy an ecosystem is
What is bioremediation
the use of living organisms such as prokaryotes, fungi, or plants, to detoxify a polluted area
What is overexploitation
harvesting species from the wild at rates faster than natural populations can recover
What is the cause of acid rain?
Sulfur and nitrogen compounds react with water and other substances in the air to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid. These substances eventually fall into the earth as acid rain
What are the consequences of acid rain?
Acid rain removes calcium, potassium, and other nutrients from the soil depriving plants from these nutrients
Eutrophication
when fertilizers, animal waste, sewage, or other substances rich in nitrogen and phosphorus flow into waterways, causing extensive algae growth
What is ocean acidification
the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
What makes a species invasive
Introduced species become invasive in their new habitat when there is a lack of predators to control their population
