1.
Abiotic components: Nonliving chemical and physical factors in the environment.
2.
Biodiversity: the variety of species living within an ecosystem
3.
Biodiversity crisis: the current rapid decrease in Earth's great variety of life
4.
Biodiversity hot spots: relatively small area with exceptional concentration of species
5.
Biogeochemical cycles: the movement of chemicals between the environment and organisms in it
6.
Biological augmentation: An approach to restoration ecology that uses organisms to add essential materials to a degraded ecosystem
7.
Biological magnification: increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web
8.
Biomass: the total mass of living matter in a given unit area
9.
Bioremediation: the use of living organisms to detoxify and restore polluted and degraded ecosystems
10.
Biotic components: All the organisms that are part of the environment.
11.
Chaparral: temperate coastal biome dominated by dense evergreen shrubs
12.
Chemical cycling: the transfer of materials within the ecosystem
13.
Coevolution: process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other
14.
Commensalisms: a symbiotic relationship in which one member is benefited and the second is neither harmed nor benefited
15.
Community: (ecology) a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other
16.
Competitive exclusion principle: no two species can occupy the same niche in the same habitat at the same time
17.
Conservation biology: application of biology to counter the loss of biodiversity
18.
Coral reefs: prominent oceanic features composed of hard, limy skeletons produced by coral animals.
19.
Decomposers: Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms
20.
Desertification: Any change of fertile land into desert
21.
Detritivores: organisms that consume organic litter debris and dung.
22.
Disturbances: events that change communities, remove or destroy organisms from communities, or alter resource availability
23.
Ecological succession: A gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance.
24.
Ecosystem: living and nonliving things in an environment, together with their interactions
25.
Endemic species: species that are native to and found only within a limited area
26.
Energy flow: The passage of energy through the components of an ecosystem
27.
Estuary: the wide part of a river where it nears the sea
28.
Intertidal zone: portion of the shoreline that lies between the high and low tide lines
29.
Keystone species: a species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem
30.
Landscape: an expanse of scenery that can be seen in a single view
31.
Mullerian mimicry: when two or more poisonous species resemble each other and gain an advantage from their combined numbers
32.
Mutualism: symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship
33.
Niche: the status of an organism within its environment and community
34.
Parasitism: one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it
35.
Pelagic zone: the open ocean
36.
Photic zone: well-lit upper layer of the oceans
37.
Phytoplankton: Tiny floating photosynthetic organisms, primarily algae
38.
Primary consumers: animals that feed on producers; ex. herbivores
39.
Primary production: The amount of light energy converted to chemical energy (organic compounds) by autotrophs in an ecosystem during a given time period
40.
Primary succession: the series of changes that occur in an area where no soil or organisms exist
41.
Quaternary consumers: consumers that consume tertiary consumers (i. e killer whale).
42.
Resource partitioning: the differentiation of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community
43.
Restoration ecology: Seeks to repair or reconstruct ecosystems damaged by human actions
44.
Secondary consumers: carnivores that eat herbivores
45.
Secondary succession: succession on a site where an existing community has been disrupted.
46.
Species: group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring
47.
Sustainable development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
48.
Symbiotic relations: The close relationship that exists when two or more species live together
49.
Temperate broadleaf forests: regular forests (Midatlantic)
50.
Temperate grasslands: biome, receive less water and are subject to lower temperatures than savannas. North american prairie
51.
Temperate zones: latitudes between the tropics and Polar Regions in each hemisphere
52.
Tertiary consumers: Carnivores that eat other Carnivores
53.
Threatened species: a species that could become endangered in the near future
54.
Tropical forests: a woodland of tall trees growing in a region of year-round warmth and abundant rainfall
55.
Tundra: a vast treeless plain in the arctic regions between the ice cap and the tree line
56.
Westerlies: prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 30 degrees & 60degrees latitude in the hemisphere.
57.
Zooplankton: tiny animals that form part of the plankton
