Vocab
The gradual process of a species going extinct
background extinction
One of the factors that is increasing the current rate of extinction. It is the excessive use, of species that have economic value.
Overexploitation
This percentage of the world’s land is set aside for some type of conservation reserve.
10-15%
The variety of ecosystems present in the biosphere
Ecosystem Diversity
species that are found only in specific geographic areas and critical levels of habitat loss.
Endemic species
The three main components of biodiversity
Genetic diversity, species diversity, ecosystem diversity
The increasing concentration of toxic substances in organisms as trophic levels increase in a food chain or web.
biological magnification
How many national parks are there in the US?
63
The number of different species and the relative abundance of each in a biological community
Species Richness/Diversity
Using resources at a rate at which they can be replaced or recycled while preserving the long-term environmental health of the biosphere.
Sustainable use
different environmental conditions that occur along the boundaries of an ecosystem.
Edge effect
Species have evolved to live within certain temperatures. When these temperatures increase, species that cannot adapt die. This is an effect of...
Climate change
The use of living organisms—such as prokaryotes, fungi, or plants—to detoxify a polluted area
Bioremediation
The variety of genes or inheritable characteristics that are present in a population
Genetic diversity
Resources that is found on Earth in limited amounts or resources that are replaced by natural processes over extremely long periods of time
Nonrenewable resource
Materials and organisms found in the biosphere including minerals, fossil fuels, nuclear fuels, plants, animals, soil, clean water, clean air, and solar energy.
Natural resource
occurs after sulfur and nitrogen compounds react with water and other substances in the air to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid. and how does this event affect the environment?
Acid rain removes calcium, potassium, and other nutrients from the soil, depriving plants of these necessities
Ecologists are maintaining and improving biodiversity by providing what allow organisms to move between habitat fragments.
Ecological corridors
The value(s) in maintaining healthy ecosystems that are beautiful or interesting to study.
Scientific and aesthetic value
Resources that are replaced by natural processes faster than they are consumed
Renewable resource
Occurs when fertilizers, animal waste, sewage, or other substances that are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus flow into waterways, causing extensive algebra growth
Eutrophication
Name the 5 anthropogenic changes that threaten biodiversity
Habitat loss, climate change, introduction of invasive species, pollution, overexploitation
Name several methods of conserving biodiversity
using renewable energy, ecological corridors, bioremediation, reducing human interference on ecosystems, conserving water
Explain the difference between Indirect and Direct Economic value of biodiversity
Indirect value cannot benefit us humans in terms of money or economy like Direct Economic value would (medicine, clothing, shelter, etc.), but it does exemplify necessities formed in natural processes like how green plants provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, and access to clean water through the water cycle
A renewable vs a non renewable resource is defined based on...
the context in which it's used