Vocab Flashcards
Tragedy of the Commons
People with access to public resource (commons) act in their own interest & end up depleting the resource
Ex: deforestation for agricultural expansion
Ecological Footprint
Measures how much resources from the environment are needed to support a specific way of life / business. Indicates the amount of pressure humans put on the natural resources available to them
Sustainability
Ways in which we use resources from our environment while also conserving them for future generations
Primary Succession
Happens when a new patch of land is created or exposed for the first time
Ex: when lava cools & creates new rocks
Secondary Succession
The reestablishment of an ecosystem following disturbances
Ex: development after floods
Pioneer Species
The first species to colonize newly created environments
Ex: bacteria, phytoplankton, algae
Climax Community
The last stage in succession where an ecosystem reaches a stable state
Ex: a mature forest
Biodiversity
The range of all livings things in a specific ecosystem
Species Evenness
Describes the abundance of species within a community
Species Richness
The number of species present within a community or area
Island Biodiversity
The variety of species on an island
Edge Effect
Changes in population / community structures that occur at the boundary of two or more habitats
Ecotourism
Tourism that centers around awareness of the environment
Ex: hiking, camping, birdwatching
Types of Ecosystem Services
Provisioning: Things directly provided to us from nature (ex: wood that can be sold)
Regulating: Benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes (ex: pollination, pest control)
Supporting: Processes done by ecosystems that support a valuable human action (ex: bees pollinate a farmer’s crops, increasing the amount of produce they can sell)
Cultural: Recreational / intellectual benefits we get from nature
Tectonic Plate
Gigantic pieces of the Earth’s crust & uppermost mantle
Convergent Plate Boundary
Where two tectonic plates moving toward each other
Divergent Plate Boundary
Where two tectonic plates move away from each other
Earthquakes are common & magma rises from Earth’s mantle to the surface
Transform Fault
When two tectonic plates scrape past each other horizontally
Subduction
Occurs when two tectonic plates collide & one plate is driven beneath the other, back into the Earth’s interior
Lithosphere
The solid outer part of Earth
Consists of the crust and upper mantle
Inner Core
Innermost layer of Earth
Outer Core
The third layer of Earth
Above the Earth’s inner core and below its Mantle
Trench
Long narrow depressions on the seafloor
Rift Valley
A lowland region that forms where Earth’s tectonic plates move apart
Mantle
The mostly solid bulk of Earth’s interior
Between Earth’s core & its crust
Asthenosphere
Upper layer of the Earth’s mantle
Below the lithosphere
Oceanic Plate
Plates located beneath the ocean
Continental Plate
Tectonic plate made of continental crust
Crust
The outermost shell of a terrestrial planet
Convection Cell
An area within a fluid where warm material is rising in the center & cold material is sinking at the edges
Ex: found in boiling water, in clouds, & on the surface of the sun
Permeability
The ability of a substance to allow another substance to pass through it
Ex: a sponge is permeable to water
Porosity
Full of tiny holes. Liquids go right through things that have porosity
Ex: a sponge
Soil Profile
The layers of soil on top of the Earth
Called O, A, B, C & R Horizons
Horizon O (Humus)
Surface litter like leaves & other decaying matter
Horizon A (Topsoil)
Organic material, most root growth found here, majority of soil nutrients
Horizon E (Eluviated)
Porous layer where minerals filter down to the next horizon
Horizon B (Subsoil)
Zone of accumulation where minerals such as iron & other nutrients accumulate
Horizon C (Parent Material)
Weathered parent material, determines soil characteristics
Horizon R (Bedrock)
Bedrock layer
Below Horizon C
CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity)
The total capacity of a soil to hold exchangeable cations. Useful indicator of soil fertility because it shows the soil’s ability to supply three important plant nutrients: calcium, magnesium & potassium
pH
Measure of how acidic / basic water is
Troposphere
Lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Most of the mass of the atmosphere is here
(Most clouds are found here & almost all weather occurs here)
Tropopause
Thin layer of air that’s the boundary between the Troposphere and the Stratosphere
Stratosphere
Second layer of Earth’s atmosphere as you go upward
Above the Troposphere, below the Mesosphere
Stratopause
Boundary which separates the mesospheres & the stratosphere
Mesosphere
Third layer of the atmosphere. Characterized by falling temperature with height
Above the stratosphere, below the thermosphere
Mesopause
The boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere
Thermosphere
Fourth layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Characterized by steadily increasing temperature with height.
Above the mesosphere, below the exosphere
Exosphere
Outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Has extremely thin air.
ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation)
Periodic fluctuation in sea surface temperature & the air pressure of the overlying atmosphere across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Affects the climate of much of the tropics and subtropics.
Warming phase of the sea is called El Niño and the cooling phase is La Niña
Upwelling
A process in which deep cold water rises toward the surface
Positive, provides food for marine life
Pycnocline
When water becomes much denser with depth
Independent variable
A variable that stands alone and isn’t changed by the other variables you are trying to measure
Ex: someone’s age. Other factors like what they eat or how much tv they watch wont change their age
Dependent variable
A variable that changes as a result of the independent variable manipulation
Ex: a test score because it could change depending on various factors like how much you studies of how much sleep you got
Constant
The part that doesn’t change during an experiment
Control group
A group separated from the rest of the experiment, does not receive experimental treatment
Ex: in a study about drugs, the group that is not given the drug is the control group
Experimental group
The group that is given experimental treatment
Ex: the group that’s given drugs when the other isn’t
Ecosystem Services
Things natural ecosystems do that have financial value to humans
El Niño & its impacts
An unusual warming of the surface of the Pacific Ocean caused by weakening trade winds
Impacts: Ocean temperatures, floods, no food for fish because the thick warm water doesn’t allow for upwelling, crop failure
La Niña & its impacts
An unusual cooling of the surface of the Pacific Ocean caused by stronger trade winds
Impacts: Drought, floods & hurricanes, temperature changes
