Environmental Studies (BEVAE-181) Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards based on key terms, ecological concepts, and environmental processes covered in the Environmental Studies (BEVAE-181) lecture notes.

Ecosystem

The functional unit of the environment, consisting of both living organisms (biotic components) and non-living objects (abiotic components).

Primary Consumers

Organisms in an ecosystem that represent herbivores and feed directly on producers.

Unidirectional Energy Flow

The irreversible, single-direction pathway along which energy moves through an ecosystem from producers through various trophic levels.

Crop Field

An example of a man-made, artificial ecosystem rather than a natural one.

Detritus

Debris derived from rotting matter, including dead and decaying plant parts and animal remains.

Ecotype

A genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a species adapted to specific environmental conditions.

Guild

A group of distinct species that exploit the same class of environmental resources in a similar way.

Biomagnification

The accumulation of non-biodegradable pesticides within a food chain in progressively increasing amounts at each successively higher trophic level.

Incineration

The thermal treatment process of burning waste substances at temperatures exceeding $1000^\times\text{C}$ to convert them into ashes.

Detrital Food Chain

A food chain pathway that begins with decaying organic matter, such as dead animals being consumed by blowfly maggots, followed by frogs and snakes.

Secondary Succession

The process of ecological re-establishment occurring in areas previously colonized but disrupted by natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods.

Desert Biome

A terrestrial biome that experiences intense heat and strong winds with great desiccating action, particularly from April to June.

Calotes and Uromastyx

Reptiles (garden lizards and spiny-tailed lizards) that act as predators of the desert locust in the Thar desert.

Db

The abbreviation used for the quantitative expression of a particular pollutant.

Boreal Coniferous Forest

A transcontinental forest ecosystem characteristic of cold regions with high rainfall, strongly seasonal climates, long winters, and fairly short summers.

DDT

A synthetic non-biodegradable pollutant that resists natural environmental decomposition and concentrates along the food chain.

Ozone ($O_3$)

A triatomic gas molecule made of $3$ oxygen atoms that shields against harmful UV rays and is degraded by chlorofluorocarbons.

Acid Rain

Precipitation with elevated levels of hydrogen ions produced by the release of oxides of sulphur and nitrogen into the atmosphere.

Humus

The non-living, organic abiotic component of soil formed by the partial decay of leaf litter and other organic matter.

Third Trophic Level

The trophic position in a food chain always occupied by carnivores (secondary consumers).

Autotroph

A primary producer, such as a green plant or tree, capable of synthesizing organic compounds using sunlight through photosynthesis.

Trophic Level Energy Transfer

The principle where energy decreases across trophic levels; if a snake at the fourth level receives $4\,\text{kJ}$, the producer (grass) at the first level supplied $4000\,\text{kJ}$.