KSU Nature and Society (2)

Plane Of The Ecliptic

Subsolar Point

Insolation

Longitude

Latitude

Geosphere

Earth’s solid, inorganic component. includes rocks, mineral, and Rock Cycle

Atmosphere

acts as filter (protection from Sun’s ultraviolet radiation)

Hydrosphere

all the water on Earth and 97% found in Earth’s oceans

Lithosphere

the brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust bounded by atmosphere (above) and asthenosphere (below)

Cryosphere

alpine glaciers, continental glaciers (ice sheets), sea ice/icebergs, and permafrost

Pedosphere

soils that help the other sphere’s

Biosphere

organisms, species (population), community (biodiversity/species loss), ecosystems, and biome

Divergent Plate Boundary

Convergent Plate Boundary

Transform Fault

Plate Tectonics

a scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth’s subterranean movements

Troposphere

lowest atmosphere level (4 to 10 miles), primary sphere for weather

Stratosphere

important for protecting life

Ozone Layer

UV radiation is absorbed by photochemically produced (TBD)

Montreal Protocol

international effort to ban chemicals

Composition of Earth’s Atmosphere

a layer of gases mostly composed of nitrogen and oxygen, water vapor, and dust.

Continentality

less dense

Soil Profile

a vertical section of the soil that depicts all of its horizons

Soil Horizon

the arrangement of soil layers

Species

Community

groups of populations which occur together in defined locations form recognizable communities

Ecosystem

groups of ecological communities

Biome

groups of ecosystems

Ecological Niche

the functional role with respect to biotic and abiotic environment

Ecological Habitat

the geographical location at which that organism (species) lives, including the physical environment

Ecological Resistance

ability of ecosystem to remain unchanged in the face of a disturbance

Ecological Resilience

the ability of an ecosystem to recover from damage suffered in a disturbance

Community Richness

the count of species in a given area. It is a simple indicator of biodiversity

Community Diversity

the count of different species (richness) and the relative abundance of those species (evenness)

Community Structure

species richness and diversity as well as the spatial and temporal distribution of species in the community

Food Web

organized by tropic levels—primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, and quaternary consumers

Trophic Level

vital to ecosystems stability and resiliency

Tropic Cascade

when a tropic level is suppressed or removed from a system, thus opening or widening a niche for another tropic level.

Keystone Species

species that have unique niche or function in an ecosystem that gives the species a disproportionate impact on the ecosystem relative to its abundance

Ecological Engineer

species that create, modify, or alter habitat in a manner and to a degree that it impacts the structure and diversity of the ecosystem

Biodiversity

refers to the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi

Extremophiles

organisms with the ability to thrive in extreme environments.

Narrow Utilitarianism

“nature” is fundamental to human well-being but also to humanity’s economic stability and development

Broadly Utilitarianism

the structure and function of ecosystems to
determine how much disturbance and species
loss they can suffer yet still deliver ecosystem services on which we depend

Precautionary Principle

Where an activity raises threats of harm to the
environment or human health, precautionary
measures should be taken even if some cause
and effect relationships are not fully established
scientifically.

Background Extinction

the ongoing extinction of the individual species caused by ecological factors, such as climate change, loss of habitat, and competitive disadvantage related to other species

The Sixth Mass Extinction

habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution