ESS Final Master Set

Assimilation

Absorbing food through the alimentary canal. This energy can then be used to form biomass or fuel biological processes.

Primary Productivity

Rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem

Denitrification

Conversion of nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium ions into nitrogen gas

Nitrification

Conversion of nitrogen gas into nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium ions

Chernobyl

A city in Ukraine that was the site of a 1986 meltdown at a Soviet nuclear power plant.

Bhopal Disaster

Union Carbide plant in India leaked chemicals killing approximately 20,000 people and injuring over half a million.

Al Gore

Clinton's vice president; presidential nominee in 2000; wrote and directed "An Inconvenient Truth".

Cornucopians

Believe that resources are not finite due to the advancement of technology

Isolated System

A system that can exchange neither energy nor matter with its surroundings.

GIS

A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Vector Data

Data format that displays geographic information as points, lines, and polygons

Raster Data

A grid-based format for storing location-based data in a geographic information system in which each equally-sized cell or pixel contains a value that represents geographic data such as land cover or elevation.

Discrete data

Data that can only take certain values.

Continuous data

Data that can take any value

Second law of thermodynamics

Every energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy of the universe.

Entropy

A measure of disorder or randomness.

Positive feedback

Feedback that tends to magnify a process or increase its output.

Negative feedback

A type of regulation that responds to a change in conditions by initiating responses that will counteract the change. Maintains a steady state.

Niche

An organism's particular role in an ecosystem, or how it makes its living.

Fundamental niche

The niche a species could potentially occupy.

Realized niche

The niche a species actually occupies.

Mutualism

A relationship between two species in which both species benefit

Herbivory

Interaction in which one animal feeds on producers

Cellular respiration

C6 H12 06 + 6O2 \---\> 6CO2 + 6H2O + ATP

Photosynthesis

6CO2 + 6H20 --\> C6H12O6 + 6O2

Consumers

An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains.

Detritivore

An organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter

Pyramid of biomass

A pyramid that illustrates the total mass of all the organisms in a trophic level.

Secondary succession

Succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil

Primary succession

An ecological succession that begins in an area where no biotic community previously existed

Zonation

The arrangement of ecosystems based on an environmental gradient

P:E Ratio

The ratio of precipitation to evaporation of a specific biome

Aspect

The direction a slope faces

Slope

The steepness of a ground surface

Longitude

Distance east or west of the prime meridian

Latitude

Distance north or south of the equator

Tropic of Capricorn

A line of latitude about 23 degrees South of the equator

Tropic of Cancer

A line of latitude about 23 degrees North of the equator

Anthropocentrist

Describes a human-centered view of our relationship with the environment

Habitat

Place where an organism lives

Ecosystem

A community of organisms and their abiotic environment

Limiting factor

Anything that can restrict the size of a population

Carrying capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support

Interspecific competition

Competition between members of different species

Intraspecific competition

Competition among members of the same species

Food web

Network of complex interactions formed by the feeding relationships among the various organisms in an ecosystem

Pyramid of Productivity

A pyramid that represents the flow of energy through a trophic level and invariably show a decrease along the food chain.

Trophic level

Each step in a food chain or food web

Trophic efficiency

Percentage of production transferred from one trophic level to the next. On average, it is 10%.

Solar constant

The rate at which radiant solar energy is received at the outer layer of the earth's atmosphere. Approximately 1,400 J/s/sq. m.

Altitude

Elevation above sea level

Thematic Layers

Individual maps of specific features that are overlaid on one another in a Geographical Information System to understand and analyze a spatial relationship.

Rachel Carson

United States biologist remembered for her opposition to the use of pesticides that were hazardous to wildlife (1907-1964)

Silent Spring

A book written to voice the concerns of environmentalists. Launched the environmentalist movement by pointing out the effects of civilization development.

First law of thermodynamics

Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.

Gross

Total amount of something

Net

Amount remaining after expenses or other factors have been deducted

Carbon budget

The balance of the carbon exchanges between carbon sinks and sources

Carbon Cycle

The organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again

Nitrogen Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

Hydrological cycle

The water cycle - how water moves around the Earth's systems

Solar radiation

sun's energy

aquifers

a permeable rock containing water

groundwater

water held underground in the soil, permeable rocks or cracks in the rock under ground.

glaciers

A slowly moving mass or river of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles.

ice caps

ice covering a large surface, especially in polar regions

evapotranspiration

the combination of evaporation from the earth's surface and transpiration from plants

transpiration

the process by which water moves through a plant and evaporates from the stomata (pores) in the plants' leaves

sublimation

the transformation of ice directly to water vapour. (Sublimation is actually the process of solid - gas in any substance).

Evaporation

transformation of water liquid to water vapour

condensation

transformation of water vapour to water liquid

advection

the wind-blown movement of water (as clouds)

Precipitation

the release of water from clouds - this is a transfer process and not a transformation

melting

transformation of ice/snow to water

freezing

transformation of water liquid to ice

flooding

an overflow of water onto land that is normally dry

surface runoff

water that flows over the surface of land after melting or precipitation

infiltration

the process by which water enters the ground surface of the soil

percolation

the process of water filtering through the soil

stream flow

the flow of water in streams, rivers and other water channels

Current

the flow of water in a water body such as a lake, sea or ocean.

Inequitable distribution

the water resources are not equally available to all - only to the rich

Physical water scarcity

the climate in that region is dry and/or the water is being over-extracted for human use, either for domestic, agricultural or industrial use. This may be for industrial uses or irrigation.

Economic water scarcity

Probably means that physical infrastructure is not in place to ensure that clean safe water is available to the population

Freshwater supplies limited by

contamination and unsustainable abstraction

abstraction

taking water out of the water table

demand for freshwater limited due to

population increase, irrigation, industrialisation

water supplies enhanced by

reservoirs, redistribution, desalinisation, artificial recharge of aquifers and rainwater harvesting; artificial glaciers, cloud seeding

water conservation strategies

drip irrigation, variable flush toilets, timed showers instead of baths, tap aerators to reduce water flow out of high pressure taps, use of grey water / storm runoff / reclaimed wastewater (already used for washing) for gardens and toilets, dry toilets, switching off tap while brushing teeth, metering water, fining companies for leaks and wasted water

water case studies

Nile River - International Water Rights - potential conflict; Aral Sea - Cash crops and poor water management; Lake Baikal - pollution and endagered species; Great Lakes - overfishing, invasive species, pollution; Mono Lake water diversion; Colorado River - Dams and over extraction; Salton Sea - Agricultural run-off; Dead Sea - water security and over extraction.

Base of aquatic food chains

photosynthesis by phytoplankton

Highest rates of aquatic productivity occur here

coastlines, shallow seas where upwellings and nutrient enrichment occur

Controversial species harvesting, e.g. seals and whales

ethical issues of biorights, rights of indigenous cultures and international conservation legislation

falling fish stocks and damage to habitats

developments in fishing equipment and changing methods of fishing

mitigation of unsustainable exploitation

policy, legislation and changes in consumer behaviour

aquaculture

the farming of marine and freshwater species which involves intervention in the rearing process to enhance production

aquaculture issues

loss of habitats, pollution from feed, fouling agents, antibiotics and other medicines added to fish pens, spread of disease, escaped species (GMOs)

wild fisheries

capture fisheries

"Improved" technology in fishing

improvements to boats, fishing gear (use of trawler bags), detection of fisheries via satellites and sonar

Management strategies for fisheries

quotas, designation of marine protected areas (exclusion zones), restriction of types and sizes of fishing gear (including mesh size of nets)