1.
alpha diversity: diversity of species in a local habitat type, ex: local wetland or forest
2.
beta diversity: local biodiversity across several different types of habitats
3.
biodiversity: number of different species in a given area
4.
conservation biology: became a science in 1980s, multidisciplinary science that focuses on the study of how humans impact organisms and on the development of ways to protect bioligical diversity
5.
consumptive use: the use of a resource that reduces the supply (removing water from a source like a rive, lake or aquifer) without returning and equal amount
6.
deforestation (tropic vs. termperate pattern): the temporary or permanent clearance of large expanses of forests for agriculture or other uses
7.
dispersal: the movement of individuals among populations, from one region or country to another
8.
Dodo: large, flightless bird, native to Mauritius. Nested on the ground, humans brough dogs and pigs that ate all the _____ eggs, quickly became extinct
9.
ecological diversity: number of trophic levels, number of available niches, complexity of food web
10.
equilibrium number of speices: balance between the rate of immigration and the rate of extinction
11.
exotic species (know examples also): a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental; i.e. zebra mussel, nutria, water hyacinth, brown tree snake
12.
fragmentation: large areas of habitat are reduced to smaller patches, which are now isolated from one another by new and different habitats, like fields, roads, farms and citites. tiny islands of natural habitat surrounded by a hostile sea. one of the greatest causes of species extinction
13.
game species: any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated
14.
gamma diversity: regional biodiverstity over a large area with many types of habitats
15.
habitat loss (destruction): process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present, one of the greatest causes of species extinction
16.
Krakatoa: small volcanic island in the Dutch East Indes, near Java and Sumatra, see notes
17.
land conversion: Converting a forested area to another use such as agricultural land or urban area.
18.
neotropical migrant: species that breeds in North America and spends the non-breeding season south of the Tropic of Cancer
19.
non-consumptive use: individuals may use (i.e. observe), yet not consume, certain living ocean resources, like whale watching or scuba diving
20.
non-game species: type of wild animal that is not hunted
21.
Passenger Pigeon: used to be most abundant bird in North American. once about 5 million, took us 50 years to kill them all
22.
Rachel Carson: marine biologist, became environmental spokesperson later in life
23.
rate of extinction: rate that species go extinct on the island
24.
rate of immigration: depends on distance from island to mainland and dispersal ability of the colonizers
25.
resource management: a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities
26.
Silent Spring: Rachel Carson's book on the results of chemical warfare on the environment
27.
simplification (of ecosystems): what humans do to ecosystems by destroying species, feedback loops, interactions between organisms; number of species is reduced, biodiversity reduced, simpler version of what we had before
28.
species diversity: total number of genes that are characteristic of a species or group of species
29.
species dominance: which species are most abundant in a particular ecosystem
30.
species evenness: relative abundance of species across different habitats or regions
31.
species richness: total number of species
32.
theory of island biogeography: the equilibrium number of species on an island will be a balance between the opposing forces of immigration and extinction
33.
waif dispersal: a factor on the rate of immigration; how a species immigrates by chance (squirrel on a log)
