living world biodiversity

Adaptations

Traits or characteristics that help an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

Background Extinction

The ongoing, low-level rate of natural extinction that occurs as a normal part of the evolutionary process.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in a particular habitat, including the number of different species, their genetic variability, and the ecosystems they form.

Climax Ecosystem

A stable and mature community that undergoes little or no change in species composition over time.

Cultural Ecosystem Service

Benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, including aesthetic, spiritual, educational, and recreational values.

Directional Selection

Natural selection that favors individuals at one extreme of a phenotypic range, leading to a shift in the overall characteristics of a population.

Disruptive Selection

Natural selection that favors individuals at both extremes of a phenotypic range, leading to increased genetic diversity within a population.

Ecological Succession

The gradual process of change in the composition of a community over time, often following a disturbance.

Ecological Tolerance

The range of environmental conditions within which a species can survive and reproduce.

Ecosystem Services

The benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems, including provisioning services, regulating services, supporting services, and cultural services.

Gene Flow

The transfer of genetic material from one population to another, reducing genetic differences between the populations.

Generalist

A species with a broad ecological niche and the ability to thrive in a variety of environmental conditions.

Genetic Diversity

The variety of genes within a population or species.

Genetic Drift

Changes in the frequency of a gene variant in a population due to random events rather than natural selection.

Habitat Diversity

The variety of habitats within a particular region.

Indicator Species

Species whose presence, absence, or abundance reflects the overall health of an ecosystem.

Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

The idea that moderate levels of disturbance can foster higher species diversity than low or high levels of disturbance.

Invasive Species

Non-native species that, when introduced to a new environment, cause harm to the ecosystem, economy, or human health.

Island Biogeography

The study of the distribution and abundance of species on islands and other isolated areas.

Keystone Species

A species that has a disproportionately large impact on its environment relative to its abundance.

Migration

The seasonal movement of organisms from one region to another.

Natural Selection

The process by which traits that enhance an organism's fitness and survival are passed on to future generations.

Non-random Mating

Individuals with certain traits are more likely to mate with each other, leading to changes in the frequency of traits in a population.

Pioneer Species

The first species to colonize a previously disrupted or barren ecosystem.

Primary Succession

The colonization and establishment of life in an area that was previously devoid of life.

Population Bottleneck

A sharp reduction in the size of a population due to a sudden environmental change.

Provisioning Ecosystem Service

Products obtained from ecosystems, such as food, water, and medicine.

Regulating Ecosystem Service

The role of ecosystems in regulating processes such as climate, disease, and water purification.

Resilience

The ability of an ecosystem to recover from disturbances.

Secondary Succession

The process of ecological succession that occurs in an area where an existing community has been partially or completely destroyed.

Sexual Selection

Natural selection arising through preference by one sex for certain characteristics in individuals of the other sex.

Specialist

A species with a narrow ecological niche and specific habitat requirements.

Species Diversity

The variety of species within a particular region.

Species Evenness

The relative abundance of each species in a community.

Species Richness

The total number of different species in a community.

Stabilizing Selection

Natural selection that favors individuals with intermediate phenotypes, reducing phenotypic variation.

Supporting Ecosystem Service

Ecosystem services necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling and soil formation.

Survival of the Fittest

The concept that individuals with traits that enhance their survival and reproduction are more likely to pass those traits on to future generations.