Introduction Flashcards
Anything that surrounds us (Wikipedia)
Environment
Study of organisms, the environment and how the organisms interact with each other and their environment (BYJU’s)
Ecology
A group of individuals of the same species living and interbreeding within a given area (Nature)
Population
A place where an organism makes its home
Habitat
Variety of life on Earth
Biodiversity
A system consisting of biotic and abiotic components that function together as a unit (Biology Online)
Ecosystem
A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals having similar characteristics and capable of interbreeding.
Species
All of the animal life present in a particular region or time
Fauna
All of the plant life present in a particular region or time
Flora
Microscopic, single celled organisms belonging to kingdom Monera that possess a prokaryotic type of cell structure
Bacteria
Major components of the environment
Atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere
Mixture of gases that surrounds the earth
Atmosphere
Acts as a shield protecting the earth from cosmic rays and filters out the tissue damaging UV radiation of the sun
Atmosphere
All of earth’s water including oceans, lakes, streams, underground water, snow, and ice
Hydrosphere
All of the earth’s organisms
Biosphere
The solid earth, principally composed of rock and regolith
Lithosphere
Obtain food by collecting plants and hunting wild animals
Hunter-gatherers (10,000 B. C.)
Effects on the environment were limited
Hunter-gatherers (10,000 B. C.)
Humans first developed the process of breeding, growing, and harvesting plants as well as animal domestication
Agricultural revolution (6000-7000 B.C.)
Shift in the source of energy to fossil fuels
Industrial Revolution (1800s)
3 environmental issues
Air Quality, Land Quality, Water Quality
Poor air quality can lead to
smog, respiratory and other illnesses, acid rain, global warming
Destruction of the Earth’s surface caused by human activities and the misuse of natural resources
Land pollution
Land and raw materials that exist naturally in the environment undisturbed by humans
Natural resources
A natural resource that can be replaced by a natural process
Renewable resource
A natural resource that cannot be produced or regrown or reused
Non-renewable resource
The process of living within the limits of available physical, natural, and social resources in ways that allow the living
systems in which humans are embedded to thrive in perpetuity
Sustainability
Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs
Sustainable development
