Environmental Systems and Societies SL - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for the Environmental Systems and Societies SL course, covering key terms and definitions from the lecture notes.

Storages

Stores of matter or energy within a system. Represented visually with boxes.

Flows

Movement of matter or energy between storages or outside the system. Represented by arrows, with size indicating magnitude.

Inputs

Flows coming into a system or storage.

Outputs

Flows going out of a system or storage.

Boundaries

The dividing line between two systems, like the atmosphere and ground. Shown by a line through flows.

Open system

A system where both energy and matter can flow in and out.

Closed system

A system where only energy can flow in and out.

Isolated system

A hypothetical system from which nothing can flow in or out.

Entropy

The amount of disorder in a system, which increases over time.

Tipping Point

The minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state.

Resilient system

A system that tends to maintain its stability, often due to large and diverse storages.

Biome

Large area characterized by specific climate conditions (insolation, precipitation, temperature) and plant and animal communities

Ecological efficiency

The percentage of energy used for new biomass divided by the energy supplied, averaging 10%.

Zonation

Change in ecosystems along an environmental gradient.

Succession

The change of an ecosystem over time, particularly after a disturbance. Can be primary or secondary.

Sub-climax community

A community that is arrested at a stage due to abiotic or biotic limiting factors.

Plagioclimax

When succession is deliberately stopped by humans, often for agriculture or resource management.

r-strategists

Species that are suited to colonizing new environments rapidly. Includes: rabbits, weeds, bacteria

K- strategist

Species that thrive in established environments and are long lived and require parental care. Includes: elephants, people, whales

Species

A group of organisms that share common characteristics and interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

Habitat

The environment in which a species normally lives.

Population

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same area at the same time, capable of interbreeding.

Community

A group of populations living and interacting in the same area at the same time.

Abiotic factors

The non-living, physical factors that influence organisms; examples: temperature, sunlight, pH, salinity, and precipitation.

Biotic factors

The interactions between organisms; examples: predation, herbivory, parasitism, mutualism, disease, and competition.

Niche

The particular set of abiotic and biotic conditions and resources to which an organism or population responds.

Fundamental niche

The full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive and reproduce.

Realized niche

The actual conditions and resources in which a species exists due to biotic interactions.

Predation

One animal (or occasionally plant) hunts/eats another.

Herbivory

Animal feeds on plant

Parasitism

A symbiosis where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the host.

Mutualism

A symbiosis where both organisms benefit from the relationship.

Disease

A organism (usually a virus, bacteria, or fungi) inhibits or kills another organism.

Competition

Where two organism are competing for a resource (or niche). The organisms can be in the same species (intraspecific) or different species (interspecific).

J-curve

A graph showing exponential growth in a population, followed by sudden collapses (diebacks) after exceeding the carrying capacity.

S curve

Graphical representation of a population that stabilizes near the carrying capacity.

Primary producers

Green plants, autotrophs make their own food from solar energy, carbon dioxide and water.

Primary consumers

Herbivores and omnivores, heterotrophs consume primary producers.

Secondary consumers

Carnivores and omnivores that consume herbivores and other carnivores.

Decomposers

Bacteria and fungi. Obtain their energy from dead organisms by secreting enzymes that break down the organic matter.

Detritivores

Snails, slugs, blowfly maggots, vultures. Derive their energy from detritus or decomposing organic material (dead organisms, feces, or parts of an organism.

bioaccumulation

The build-up of persistent pollutants in an organism or trophic level because they cannot be broken down

biomagnification

The process where the concentration of persistent pollutants increases as they are passed up the food chain.

Biodiversity

A general term describing the variability in a community, ecosystem, or biome, including habitat, species, and genetic diversity.

Habitat diversity

The range of different habitats in an ecosystem or biome.

Species diversity

The number of species (richness) and their relative proportions (evenness) in a community.

Genetic diversity

The range of genetic material present in a population of a species.

Evolution

The gradual change in the genetic character of populations over many generations.

Natural selection

The evolutionary driving force where the fittest are best-suited to the niche and reproduce more successfully.

Speciation

The formation of new species when populations become isolated and evolve differently.

Naming

Describes a specific location or ecosystem under study.

Sampling and extrapolation

Estimating the characteristics of an ecosystem or population from measuring a small portion.

pitfall traps

beakers or pots buried in the soil which animals walk into and cannot escape from nets sweep, butterfly, seine, and purse

flight interception traps

fine-meshed nets that intercept the flight of insects – the animals fall into trays where they can be collected

small mammal traps

often baited, with a door that closes once an animal is inside

light traps

a UV bulb against a white sheet attracts certain night flying insects

Tullgren funnels

paired cloth funnels, with a light source at one end, a sample pot the other, and a wire mesh between: invertebrates in soil samples placed on the mesh move away from the heat of the lamp and fall into the collecting bottle at the bottom

Pooters

sucks insects from vegetation

Kick sampling

disturbing a river bed and collecting the animals downstream in a net.

Species abundance

The number of organisms in a species relative to its environment.

DAFOR/ACFOR scale

A simple way of grading a species on a scale of species abundance

Lincoln index

n1*n2/nm

Simpson index

A measure of species diversity, accounting for both the number of species and their relative abundance.

Sigma notation

The denominator is the sum of n(n − 1) for all the species that make up N.

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

The amount of energy/biomass converted by producers per unit area per unit time.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The gain (after respiration) by producers in energy/biomass per unit area per unit time.

Gross Secondary Productivity (GSP)

The total energy/biomass assimilated by consumers through feeding and absorption per unit area per unit time.

Net Secondary Productivity (NSP)

The gain (after respiration) by consumers in energy/biomass per unit area per unit time.

Maximum sustainable yields

Those that are less than or equivalent to the net primary or net secondary productivity of a system

Pyramids

Graphical models of the amount of living material stored at each trophic level of a food chain.

Pyramid of numbers

Records the number of individuals at each trophic level. However, it does not account for size.

Pyramid of biomass

Represents the biological mass of the standing stock at each trophic level at a particular point in time measured in units such as grams of biomass per square metre (g m2). However, organisms must be killed to measure dry mass.

Pyramid of productivity

Shows the flow of energy (starting from solar radiation – optional) through each trophic level of a food chain over a period of time. Therefore, it allows for comparison between ecosystems.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

Number of births per 1000 people, per year

Total Fertility Rate

Average number of births per 1000 women of childbearing age (usually 15-49)

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

Number of deaths per 1000 people per year

Natural Increase (NIR)

Crude Birth Rate − Crude Death Rate

Doubling time (DT)

number of years for a population to double in size assuming the natural growth rate remains constant. = 70/NIR (%)

Natural capital

Natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services

Natural income

The yield obtained from natural resources

Renewable natural capital

Generated and/or replaced as fast as it is being used

Non-renewable natural capital

Irreplaceable or only replaceable over geological timescales

Pollution

The addition of a substance or an agent to an environment by human activity, at a rate greater than that at which it can be rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the organisms within it

Solid Domestic Waste (SDW)

Discarded items from our own homes, official termed

Conservation

The act of preserving something for future generations

IUCN

International Union of Conservation of Nature, publishes data in the “Red List of Threatened Species

EEA

European Environment Agency

UNEP

United nations environment program

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency o. the USA (EPA)

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

A successful voluntary international convention, aims to restrict the trade of species, where that trade threatens their survival

hydrological cycle

A system of water flows and storages driven by solar radiation.

turnover time

The amount of time water is stored

water scarcity

Caused by either by Physical scarcity of water or Economic scarcity of water.

Flow

Average flow = surface flow 1.25

Aquatic food production

The worlds oceans complex systems that are supported by photosynthesis by phytoplankton.

trawling

Modern _ techniques do not distinguish between adult and young fish, removing the next generation before it can mature

over exploited

Capture of fish is higher than the maximum sustainable yield

Aquaculture

Farmed fish, provides potential for increased food production and also economic development

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

A measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic biological activity

Soils

Made up of organic matter, organisms, nutrients, minerals, air and water