Conservation Biology and Global Change

Flashcards covering key terminology and concepts from Chapter 56 on Conservation Biology, human impact, and global change.

Edges

The boundaries between ecosystems that possess their own unique physical conditions, which differ from the adjacent environments on either side.

Movement corridor

A narrow strip or series of small clumps of habitat that connects isolated patches, promoting dispersal and reducing inbreeding among populations.

Biodiversity hot spot

A relatively small area containing a high number of endangered, threatened, and endemic species.

Endemic species

Species that are native to and found strictly within one specific geographic area and nowhere else in the world.

Zoned reserves

Protected areas consisting of relatively undisturbed regions surrounded by buffer zones where human activities are managed to avoid harming the protected area.

Buffer zones

Modified areas surrounding protected land in a zoned reserve that serve to shield the core ecosystem from human-induced harm.

Urban ecology

A field of research that examines the interactions between organisms and their environment specifically within urban settings.

Guichon Creek

An urban stream near Vancouver, British Columbia, where restoration efforts successfully allowed for the reestablishment of cutthroat trout.

Nutrient enrichment

A human-caused environmental change where activity, such as agriculture and the use of fertilizers, removes nutrients from one part of the biosphere and adds them to another.

Biological magnification

A process where toxins become more concentrated at higher trophic levels of a food web where biomass is lower.

PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)

Chlorinated hydrocarbons that accumulate in ecosystems, such as in the Great Lakes where herring gull eggs contain concentrations $5,000$ times greater than phytoplankton.

Silent Spring

The book written by Rachel Carson in the $1960\text{s}$ that brought international attention to the biomagnification of DDT in bird populations.

Greenhouse effect

The process where $CO_2$, water vapor, and other gases reflect infrared radiation back toward Earth, maintaining habitable surface temperatures.

American pikas

Organisms that face extinction risks from climate change due to high summer temperatures ($12^{\circ}\text{C}$ to $16^{\circ}\text{C}$) and small habitat areas, which force them to spend more time in burrows and less time foraging.

Alpine chickweed

An early-flowering plant used as a food source for caribou; earlier spring growth due to climate change has led to a food mismatch and a fourfold drop in caribou offspring.

Sustainable development

Development that provides for the needs of people today without limiting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainable Biosphere Initiative

An initiative aimed at defining and acquiring the ecological information necessary for the responsible management and conservation of Earth's resources.

Biophilia

The concept representing our ancestral attachment to nature and the inherent diversity of life.