Unit 2: Living World: Biodiversity Vocabulary

Flashcards connected to AP Environmental Science Unit 2 Topics

Abiotic Factors

The non-living components of an ecosystem that shape the environment and influence the distribution and abundance of organisms.

Biotic Factors

The living components of an ecosystem that interact with each other and with abiotic factors to create a complex web of relationships.

Biodiversity

The number, variety, and variability of organisms; consists of three components: genetic diversity, species richness, and ecosystem diversity.

Biodiversity Hotspot

A relatively small area of land that contains an exceptional number of endemic species and is at high risk from human activities.

Flora

The collective plant life found in a certain area or during a given time period.

Fauna

All animal life found in a certain area or during a given time period.

Habitat

The natural environment where an organism lives and grows, encompassing both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) factors within that area.

Genetic Biodiversity

The variation in genes and genotypes within a species population.

Habitat Biodiversity

The variety of distinct locations supporting species in an ecosystem or biome.

Species Biodiversity

The number of species present in an ecosystem and the relative abundance of each species.

Niche

An organism's role or function within an ecosystem, including its habitat, food sources, interactions with other species, and behaviors.

Fundamental Niche

The full range of environmental conditions and resources an organism can occupy and use, especially when limiting factors are absent in its habitat.

Realized Niche

The part of the fundamental niche that an organism occupies due to limiting factors present in its habitat.

Bottleneck Effect

When the population number dramatically decreases as a result of natural disasters.

Foundation Species

Species that play a major role in creating or maintaining habitats to support other species in an ecosystem.

Ecosystem Engineer

Species that contribute to the physical geography of their habitat, modifying, creating, and maintaining habitats.

Endemic Species

Species that are only found in a single geographical area and do not occur naturally in any other part of the world.

Native Species

A plant, animal, or other organism naturally occurring in a particular region, adapted to the environment, climate, and other species in their area.

Indigenous Species

Species found in a particular location and surrounding areas.

Anthropocentric activities

Human actions that prioritize human needs and interests over the well-being of other species and the environment.

Ecosystem Services

The benefits humans obtain from ecosystems, such as clean air and water, fertile soil, crop pollination, and climate regulation.

Cultural Services

The non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems, such as recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, spiritual enrichment, and cultural identity.

Provisioning Services

Products obtained from ecosystems, such as food, water, timber, and fuel.

Regulating Services

The benefits obtained from balanced ecosystem processes, such as climate management, air and water purification, pollination, and pest control.

Supporting Services

The underlying processes enabling the other three ecosystem services: nutrient cycling, soil formation, and primary production.

Colonization

The process by which new species arrive on an island and establish a population.

Island Biogeography

Predicts that species richness is a function of island size and distance from the mainland.

Generalist Species

A species with a broad niche that is easily adaptable to many environmental conditions.

Specialist Species

A species with a narrow niche and incredibly specific needs in order to survive.

Invasive Species

A species that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum number of individuals of a given species that a particular environment can support, represented by the letter K.

Range of Tolerance

All relevant abiotic conditions represent the species' fundamental niche.

Limiting Factors

Any of the factors (variables) in an environment capable of limiting a process, such as the growth, abundance, or distribution of a population of organisms in an ecosystem.

Climate change

The long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

Disruptions

Events or processes that alter the structure, function, or composition of an ecosystem.

Earth system processes

The interconnected natural processes that shape our planet.

Natural disruptions

Events like fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, and climate change.

Human-induced disruptions

Anthropocentric activities that can lead to the loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, water pollution, and climate change.

Migration

The regular, often seasonal movement of animals from one location to another, triggered by changes in environmental conditions.

Sea level rise

The average height of the ocean's surface is increasing over time.

Thermal expansion

As the ocean water warms up, it expands, taking up more space.

Melting ice

Glaciers and ice sheets on land are melting, adding more water to the oceans.

Sea level fall

The average height of the ocean's surface is decreasing.

Ice age glaciation

During ice ages, huge amounts of water are locked up in glaciers and ice sheets, lowering sea levels.

Ocean basin volume

Geological processes like tectonic plate movement can slightly change the volume of ocean basins, which can lead to changes in sea level.

Adaptation

A physical or behavioral trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

Natural Selection

A process in which organisms with traits that make them better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on those advantageous traits to their offspring.

Genetic Diversity

The range of genetic material in a gene pool or population of a single species.

Coevolution

When two (or more) species affect each other's evolution, caused by symbiotic relationships and predator-prey dynamics.

Phylogenetic Tree

A branching diagram or 'tree' showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics.

Stabilizing Selection

Any selective force or forces in nature that push a population toward the average or median trait.

Directional Selection

Any selective force or forces that cause a population to evolve towards one end of a trait spectrum.

Diversifying Selection

Any selective force or forces in nature that push a population toward the two ends of the trait spectrum, potentially leading to the formation of two distinct species; also known as disruptive selection.

Succession

The gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established.

Primary Succession

Succession that occurs in essentially lifeless areas—regions in which the soil is incapable of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier.

Secondary Succession

Succession that occurs in areas where a community that previously existed has been removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not eliminate all life and nutrients from the environment.

Climax Community

A stable, mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment.

Pioneer Species

The first organisms (such as lichens and mosses) to colonize an area and to begin the first stages of succession; typically r-strategist species.

Keystone Species

A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed, the ecosystem would change drastically.

Ecological Resistance

The property of communities or populations to remain essentially unchanged when subject to disturbance.

Ecological Resilience

The ability of an ecosystem to maintain its normal patterns of nutrient cycling and biomass production after being subjected to damage caused by an ecological disturbance.

Indicator Species

An organism whose presence, absence, or abundance reflects a specific environmental condition.

Intermediate species

Organisms that come after pioneer species and help to continue to modify the soil and habitat in ecological succession.

Species Richness

The number of species within a defined region.

Species Evenness

The relative abundance of different species in a particular sample, community, or habitat area.