Life 58- Ecosystems and Global ecology Flashcards
Greenhouse gases
Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane, that are transparent to sunlight, but trap heat radiating from Earth’s surface, causing heat to build up at Earth’s surface.
Sustainable
Pertaining to the use and management of ecosystems in such a way that humans benefit over the long term from specific ecosystem goods and services without compromising others.
Biogeochemical cycle
Movement of inorganic elements such as nitrogen, photosphorus, and carbon through living organisms and the physical environment.
Troposphere
The lowest atmospheric zone, reaching upward from the Earth’s surface approximately 10/17 km. zone in which virtually all water vapour is located.
Fossil fuels
Fuels, including oil, natural gas, coal, and peat, formed over geological time from organic material buried in anaerobic sediments.
Stratosphere
The upper part of Earth’s atmosphere, above the troposphere; extends from approximately 18 km upward to approximately 50 km above the surface.
Acid precipitation
Precipitation that has a lower pH than normal as a result of acid-forming precursor molecules introduced into the atmosphere by human activities.
Eutrophication
The addition of nutrient materials to a body of water, resulting in changes in ecological processes and species composition therein.
Turnover
In freshwater ecosystems, vertical movements of water that bring nutrients and dissolved carbon dioxide to the surface and oxygen to deeper water
Aquifer
A large pool of groundwater.
Upwelling zones.
Areas of the ocean where cool, nutrient-rich water from deeper layers rise to the surface.
Ecosystem
The organisms of a particular habitat, such as a pond or forest, together with the physical environment in which they live
Hydrologic cycle
The movement of water from the oceans to the atmosphere, to the soil, and back to the oceans
