Global Change Ecology Lecture Flashcards

These vocabulary flashcards cover the main themes of Global Change Ecology including climate variation, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity loss, and sustainable human impacts based solutions.

Greenhouse Gases

Gases such as $CO_2$, Methane ($CH_4$), Nitrous oxide ($N_2O$), and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that trap heat and increase Earth's overall temperature.

$CO_2$ Temperature

Arrhenius: First scientist to estimate that increasing CO₂ would warm Earth.

Orbital Cycles

Natural changes in Earth’s orbit that affect climate.

Rubisco

A concentration of enzyme that regulates net photosynthesis; it can become a limiting factor, causing photosynthetic rates to plateau.

Nitrous Oxide ($N_2O$) Potency

A potent greenhouse gas that is $310\times$ more potent than $CO_2$ and has a long residence time of approximately $114$ years.

Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs)

Possible trajectories for future emissions that depend on societal choices, represented in terms of radiative forcing added by greenhouse gases.

Ocean Acidification

The process by which the ocean absorbs anthropogenic $CO_2$, which dissolves to form carbonic acid, decreasing the water's pH and carbonate levels.

What happens to bicarbonate during ocean acidification?

1. Bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) forms when CO₂ dissolves in water

2. carbonic acid dissociates.

3. releases H⁺ and reduce available carbonate needed for shells/corals.

Nitrogen Fixation

The process of pulling atmospheric $N_2$ into a form usable by organic matter, often facilitated by microbes using the nitrogenase enzyme.

Ammonification

The process by which fungi and bacteria in the soil convert nitrogen in organic matter into inorganic ammonium ($NH_4^+$).

Nitrification

The biological conversion of ammonium ($NH_4^+$) to nitrate ($NO_3^-$), a process favored in dry soils.

Eutrophication

The over-enrichment of water bodies with nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, leading to algal blooms and severe oxygen depletion.

Hypoxia

A Low oxygen concentration in a given aquatic environment, suffocates plants.

Haber-Bosch Process

An industrial process developed in the early 1900s to produce synthetic ammonia for fertilizer.

Redfield Ratio

marine phytoplankton require nutrients in predictable proportions. deviations from those proportions indicate nutrient limitation.

Background Extinction Rate

The naturally low rate of species loss under normal evolutionary conditions, estimated at approximately $1$ extinction per million species per year.

Anthropocene

The current geological epoch where human activity is the dominant influence on Earth's ecosystems, climate, and nutrient cycles.

Trophic Cascade

An ecological phenomenon where the removal or addition of top predators ripples through the ecosystem, affecting multiple lower trophic levels.

Zooxanthellae

Photosynthetic dinoflagellates living inside corals that provide ~95% of the coral’s energy and give corals color.

Ecological Niche

all the conditions/resources a species needs to survive and reproduce. births exceed deaths.

Species Distribution Model (SDM)

uses climate data to predict where species can live now and in the future.

Biotic Homogenization

The process through which biological communities become more similar due to species invasions, extinctions, and changes in abundance.

Tens Rule

A general rule stating that approximately $10\%$ of exotic species become established, and $10\%$ of those established species become invasive.

Disease Triangle

A conceptual model illustrating that disease results from the interaction between a susceptible host, a capable pathogen, and favorable environmental conditions.

Dilution Effect

The theory that higher biodiversity reduces the prevalence of infectious diseases because a higher proportion of ticks or vectors feed on less competent hosts.

Bioaccumulation

The process where a substance, such as DDT, accumulates in the fat tissues of an organism over time because it is not easily excreted.

Biomagnification

The increasing concentration of a substance in organisms at higher trophic levels, such as predatory birds accumulating high levels of DDT from their prey.

Ecosystem Functions

things an ecosystem does like matter, nutrient, and energy flows that happen regardless of human interaction.

Ecosystem Services

The provision of goods and environmental regulations from ecosystems that directly benefit humans, such as food, timber, and flood control.

Selection Effects

A mechanism where biodiverse communities have a higher chance of including the most productive or 'best' performing species from a pool.

Species Complementarity

The idea that different species perform best under different conditions or use different resources, leading to higher total function in a community.

Portfolio Effect

A phenomenon where fluctuations in multiple species' abundances average out, resulting in a more stable community biomass in diverse systems.

I = PAT Formula

A simple formula where Human Impact (I) is defined as the product of Population (P), Affluence (A), and Technology (T).

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime; replacement level is typically considered to be just under $2.1$.

Demographic Transition

The multi-stage transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as a society develops.

Sustainable Intensification

An agricultural goal to increase food production significantly while simultaneously shrinking the environmental footprint.

Yield Gap

The difference between actual crop yields and the potential yields that could be achieved under optimal management.

Precise Farming

An approach that targets nutrient and irrigation applications to only the necessary locations and times to optimize yield and reduce pollution.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

A tactical approach to pest control that combines multiple methods, including biological, cultural, and mechanical, to increase effectiveness and reduce chemical reliance.

Montreal Protocol (1987)

An international agreement signed by $80$ countries to phase out the use of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to protect the ozone layer.