Topic 2.4: Ecological Range of Tolerance

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to ecological range of tolerance, zones of stress and intolerance, and physiological impacts.

Ecological Range of Tolerance

The range of environmental conditions—such as temperature, salinity, pH, or sunlight—that an organism can endure before injury or death.

Optimal Zone

The range of environmental conditions where an organism is able to survive, grow, and reproduce, resulting in the highest population size.

Range of Physiological Stress

The zone or range where an organism can survive, but experiences physiological stress such as infertility, lack of growth, or decreased activity.

Zone of Intolerance

The range of environmental conditions where an organism cannot survive and will actually die.

Salmon Basic Temperature Tolerance Range

The basic temperature range of about $6$ to $22$ degrees Celsius ($6$ to $22^\text{o}\text{C}$) that salmon can endure.

Genetic Diversity (in Ecological Tolerance)

Individual variation within a species that provides slightly different tolerance ranges, making the overall population more resistant to environmental shifts like global warming.

Thermal Shock

A specific physiological stressor that occurs when environmental water temperatures change so rapidly that an organism dies.

Physiological Stress

A specific biological strain or hardship experienced by an organism outside its optimal zone, such as suffocation, thermal shock, or lack of access to water, food, or oxygen.