Bio 144 exam 5 vocab

Abiotic

nonliving components of the environment

Above-ground biomass

total mass of aboveground living plants per area

Abyssal zone

deepest part of the ocean at depths of 4000 m or greater

Algal bloom

rapid increase of algae in an aquatic system

Aphotic zone

part of the ocean where no light penetrates

Benthic realm

(also, benthic zone) part of the ocean that extends along the ocean bottom from the shoreline to the deepest parts of the ocean floor

Biogeography

study of the geographic distribution of living things and the abiotic factors that affect their distribution

Biome

ecological community of plants, animals, and other organisms that is adapted to a characteristics set of environmental conditions

Biotic

living components of the environment

Canopy

branches and foliage of trees that form a layer of overhead coverage in a forest

Channel

width of a river or stream from one bank to the other bank

Clathrates

frozen chunks of ice and methane found at the bottom of the ocean

Climate

long-term, predictable atmospheric conditions present in a specific area

Conspecifics

individuals that are members of the same species

Coral reef

ocean ridges formed by marine invertebrates living in warm, shallow waters within the photic zone

Cryptofauna

invertebrates found within the calcium carbonate substrate of coral reefs

Ecology

study of interaction between living things and their environment

Ecosystem services

human benefits and services provided by natural ecosystems

Emergent vegetation

wetland plants that are rooted in the soil but have portions of leaves, stems, and flowers extending above the water’s surface

Endemic

species found only in a specific geographic area that is usually restricted in size

Estuary

biomes where a source of fresh water, such as a river, meets the ocean

Fall and spring turnover

seasonal process that recycles nutrients and oxygen from the bottom of a freshwater ecosystem to the top

Global climate change

altered global weather patterns, including a worldwide increase in temperature, due largely to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide

Greenhouse effect

warming of Earth due to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Greenhouse gases

atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that absorb and emit radiation, thus trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere

Haze-effect cooling

effect of the gases and solids from a volcanic eruption on global climate

Heterospecifics

individuals that are members of different species

Intertidal zone

part of the ocean that is closest to land; parts extend above the water at low tide

Milankovitch cycles

cyclic changes in the Earth’s orbit that may affect climate

Neritic zone

part of the ocean that extends from low tide to the edge of the continental shelf

Net primary productivity

measurement of the energy accumulation within an ecosystem, calculated as the total amount of carbon fixed per year minus the amount that is oxidized during cellular respiration

Ocean upwelling

rising of deep ocean waters that occurs when prevailing winds blow along surface waters near a coastline

Oceanic zone

part of the ocean that begins offshore where the water measures 200 m deep or deeper

Pelagic realm

(also, pelagic zone) open ocean waters that are not close to the bottom or near the shore

Permafrost

perennially frozen portion of the Arctic tundra soil

Photic zone

portion of the ocean that light can penetrate

Planktivore

animal species that eats plankton

Predator

organism that kills and consumes another organism

Sargassum

type of free-floating marine seaweed

Solar intensity

amount of solar power energy the sun emits in a given amount of time

Source water

point of origin of a river or stream

Thermocline

layers of water with a temperature that is significantly different from that of the surrounding layers

Weather

conditions of the atmosphere during a short period of time

Adaptive radiation

rapid branching through speciation of a phylogenetic tree into many closely related species

Biodiversity

variety of a biological system, typically conceives as the number of species, but also applying to genes, biochemistry, and ecosystems

Biodiversity hotspot

concept originated by Norman Myers to describe a geographical region with a large number of endemic species and a large percentage of degraded habitat

Bush meat

wild-caught animal used as food (typically mammals, birds, and reptiles); usually referring to hunting in the tropics of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas

Chemical diversity

variety of metabolic compounds in an ecosystem

Chytridiomycosis

disease of amphibians caused by the fungus *Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis;* thought to be a major cause of the global amphibian decline

DNA barcoding

molecular genetic method for identifying a unique genetic sequence to associate with a species

Ecosystem diversity

variety of ecosystems

Endemic species

species native to one place

Exotic species

(also, invasive species) species that has been introduced to an ecosystem in which it did not evolve

Extinction

disappearance of a species from Earth; local extinction is the disappearance of a species from a region

Extinction rate

number of species becoming extinct over time, sometimes defined as extinctions per million species-years to make numbers manageable (E/MSY)

Genetic diversity

variety of genes in a species or other taxonomic group or ecosystem, the term can refer to allelic diversity or genome-wide diversity

Heterogeneity

number of ecological niches

Megafauna

large animals

Secondary plant compound

compound produced as byproducts of plant metabolic processes that is usually toxic, but is sequestered by the plant to defend against herbivores

Species-area relationship

relationship between area surveyed and number of species encountered; typically measured by incrementally increasing the area of a survey and determining the cumulative numbers of species

Tragedy of the commons

economic principle that resources held in common will inevitably be overexploited

White-nose syndrome

disease of cave-hibernating bats in the eastern United States and Canada associated with the fungus *Geomyces destructans*