S

Question 1

Saprophagous

Answer 1

Organism that gains its nourishment by feeding on dead OM. Woodside, centipedes, springtails.

Question 2

Saprotroph

Answer 2

An organism that feeds on dead or decaying plants or animals.

Question 3

Saproxylophagous

Answer 3

Species that eat dead wood. Eg woodworm beetles.

Question 4

Search time

Answer 4

How long it takes a consumer to find a suitable food item.

Question 5

Semi volatile

Answer 5

Compounds with boiling points higher than water, which may vaporise when exposed to temperatures above room temp; semi volatile organic compounds can undergo repeated evaporation and deposition cycles in soil, air and water at ordinary env temps.

Question 6

Senescence

Answer 6

The depression of bodily functions as part of the process of growing old.

Question 7

Sensitivity analysis

Answer 7

A process of testing a model to see how sensitive it is to changes in different parameters.

Question 8

Serotiny

Answer 8

The process where seeds are held in long lived woody fruits or cones, which are often attached to trunks or large branches and open to release seeds only after a fire.

Question 9

Service providers

Answer 9

The idea that ecosystems can provide services, such as coastal protection by mangroves.

Question 10

Sign graphs, aka causal loop diagrams

Answer 10

Diagrams of interconnecting factors linked by arrows, the arrows are marked with plus or minus signs, which indicate that a change in one factor gives rise to a change in the linked factor in the same or opposite direction, respectively. These diagrams can Bessel to identify feedback loops and distinguish between post and neg fb loops.

Question 11

Simulation

Answer 11

Synonymous with run or integration, the process of producing a model prediction.

Question 12

Soil organic matter SOM

Answer 12

A mixture of soil components derived from dead organisms including decaying plants and animal parts, microorganisms and various slimy exudates. Found mostly in soil A horizons.

Question 13

Soil respiration

Answer 13

Carbon dioxide emitted from the soil to the atmosphere as a result of combined heterotrophic and autotrophic processes.

Question 14

Soil water potential

Answer 14

The availability of water, measured in units of pressure, in the soil compared with a reference state of free water at ground surface.

Question 15

Sorbed

Answer 15

A term embracing both adsorbed and absorbed substances.

Question 16

Species richness

Answer 16

The number of species found in a given area.

Question 17

Stability and stable equilibrium

Answer 17

The ability of a population of ecosystem to stay at or move towards an equilibrium. An equilibrium may be locally or globally stable. Aka steady state.

Question 18

Stem flow

Answer 18

Water that flows down stems of plants.

Question 19

Stomatal conductance

Answer 19

The ease at which gases can move into and out of leave via stomatal pores. The wider open the pores, the higher the conductance.

Question 20

Substrate

Answer 20

Any substances that are consumed in an enzymatic reaction, such as organic compounds on which microbes feed.

Question 21

Sulfate reducing bacteria.

Answer 21

Bacteria capable of reducing sulphate to sulfide.

Question 22

Summer-green

Answer 22

Deciduous in response to cold.

Question 23

Surface fires

Answer 23

Ground level fires, much less severe and are the type commonly used for land management.

Question 24

Surface roughness

Answer 24

The roughness of a surface affects the flow of liquids or gases over it due to frictional effects. Forests have higher surface roughness than grasslands, which leads to a greater reduction in wind speed.