Key Terms
This is the name for a place where a species or community of species live.
What is a habitat?
This is the term for a species in a food chain that makes its own food, with energy from the sun and nutrients from the soil.
What is a producer?
This effect of climate change is having a huge impact on arctic ecosystems.
What are melting glaciers?
Focusing on producing crops in a manner that limits the impact on the environment.
What is sustainable agriculture?
This species is a living thing that is brought to a new habitat, often causing damage to the new environment.
What is an invasive species?
An individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.
What is an organism?
This type of organism only eats producers.
What is a primary consumer (or herbivore)
This effect of climate change is caused by slowing ocean currents due to melting glaciers. Hint: they are natural, but are occurring more frequently.
Extreme weather events (hurricanes, typhoons, flooding)
When there is large scale production, usually with a single or a few species.
(Example: Factory farm packed with cattle with poor living conditions.)
What is industrial agriculture?
These are the 5 types of vertebrates.
What are mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, and reptiles?
This is the term for a group of the same organism.
What is a species?
This type of organism will eat primary consumers. Example: a snake eats mice (a primary consumer)
What is a secondary consumer?
Hotter and drier climates can increase the risk of these events, which can destroy ecosystems.
What are forest fires?
The type of agriculture is more profitable. (Sustainable or Industrial)
(makes more money)
What is industrial agriculture?
Any type of plant or animal in danger of disappearing forever.
What is an endangered species?
This is the term for the diversity (many different kinds) of living things in a given area.
What is biodiversity?
Shows how living things get food and how nutrients are passed from species to species.
What is a food chain?
Coral bleaching (when coral expel their algae due to stress, turning white) is a direct result of this effect of climate change.
What are rising ocean temperatures?
As a consumer, buying locally-grown food from a market means you are supporting sustainable or industrial agriculture.
What is sustainable agriculture?
The biological variation that occurs within species. It is important because it allows organisms to adapt to changing environments. More variation increases the chances of the species survival in a new environment.
What is genetic diversity?
This theory explains why there is the most biodiversity at the Earth's equator, and the least amount of biodiversity at the Earth's poles.
What is the latitudinal biodiversity gradient?
Bacteria and fungi are both examples of this type of organism.
What are decomposers?
We need coral reefs, because they act as a natural _____________ that protect shorelines from storms and soil erosion.
What is a barrier?
The method of farming that yields more crops despite the negative scenarios faced by the farm. (monoculture or polyculture)
What is polyculture?
Human activity has led to a decrease in biodiversity.
These two activities are the main causes of biodiversity loss.
What are the habitat destruction and pollution?