Living Ecosystems
This rule states that in a food chain, only a small portion of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next.
What is the 10% Rule (or the Second Law of Thermodynamics)?
These are the two of three levels of biodiversity that scientists use to measure the health of an ecosystem (you can pick any two).
What are Genetic, Species, and Ecosystem diversity?
This type of species produces many offspring at once, provides little to no parental care, and often has a Type III survivorship curve.
What is an r-selected species?
This economic and environmental principle describes how individuals will over-exploit a shared resource (like the ocean or air) for personal gain.
What is Tragedy of the Commons?
This agricultural technique involves planting a single species of crop over a very large area, which increases efficiency but also increases vulnerability to pests.
What is Mono-cropping (Or Monoculture)?
This terrestrial biome is characterized by permafrost, extremely short growing seasons, and very low net primary productivity.
What is the Tundra?
According to this theory, the number of species on an island is determined by its size and its distance from the mainland.
What is the Theory of Island Biogeography?
This is the specific term for the maximum population size of a species that an ecosystem can sustain indefinitely without degrading the resource base.
What is Carrying Capacity (K)?
This type of timber harvesting involves removing all the trees in a specific area, leading to high soil erosion and loss of biodiversity.
What is Clear-Cutting?
This unintended consequence of over-irrigation occurs when water evaporates and leaves behind mineral salts, eventually making the soil toxic to plants.
What is Soil Salinization?
This biogeochemical cycle is the only one that does not include a significant gaseous or atmospheric phase, making it a limiting factor in many ecosystems.
What is the Phosphorus Cycle?
These four categories describe the benefits humans receive from nature: Provisioning, Regulating, Cultural, and Supporting.
What are Ecosystem Services?
In the Demographic Transition Model, this stage is characterized by high birth rates and rapidly declining death rates, leading to "explosive" population growth.
What is Stage 2 (Transitional)?
This structure is often built alongside dams to allow migratory fish, such as salmon, to bypass the barrier and reach their upstream spawning grounds.
What is a Fish Ladder?
This sustainable farming practice involves alternating the type of crop grown in a field each season to restore soil nutrients like nitrogen.
What is Crop Rotation?
This is the total rate at which solar energy is captured and converted into chemical energy by producers via photosynthesis.
What is Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)?
This term describes a species whose presence has a disproportionately large effect on its ecosystem, such as a sea otter or a wolf.
What is a Keystone Species?
This is the name of the mathematical formula that is used to estimate how many years it will take for a population to double in size.
What is the Rule of 70?
This is the downward movement of water through soil, which can carry dissolved pollutants or nutrients into the groundwater.
What is Leaching?
This management strategy uses a combination of biological, physical, and chemical tools to minimize pesticide use and protect the environment.
What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
This process occurs in an area that has been deeply disturbed but still retains its soil, such as a forest after a wildfire.
What is Secondary Succession?
This concept describes the range of abiotic conditions (like temperature or salinity) in which a species can survive, grow, and reproduce.
What is the Range of Tolerance?
This type of population distribution occurs when individuals are spaced evenly, often due to territoriality or competition for resources.
What is Uniform Distribution?
This federal law, passed in 1977, requires mining companies to restore land to its original or better condition after surface mining operations have ceased, a process known as reclamation.
What is the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA)?
This sustainable farming technique involves planting different crops in alternating strips—such as a row of corn next to a row of nitrogen-fixing alfalfa—to reduce erosion and improve soil fertility.
What is Strip Cropping?