Studied by 1 person
biodiversity
the diversity of life forms in an environment
genetic diversity
a measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population
population bottleneck
when a large population decline in number, the amount of genetic diversity carried by the surviving individuals is greatly reduced
species diversity
the number of species in a region or in a particular ecosystem
habitat diversity
the variety of habitats that exist in a given ecosystem
specialists
species that only live under a narrow range of biotic or abiotic conditions
ecosystem diversity
the variety of ecosystems that exist in a given region
species richness
the number of different species in a given area
species evenness
the relative proportion of individuals within the different species in a given area
ecosystem services
the processes by which life supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced
provision
a good produced by an ecosystem that humans can use directly
aquaculture
the farming of fish, shellfish, and seaweed
island biography
the study of how species are distributed and interacting on islands
species-area curve
a description of how the number of species on an island increase with the area of the island
ecological tolerance (fundamental niche)
the suite of abiotic conditions under which a species can survive, grow, and reproduce
realized niche
the range of abiotic antibiotic conditions under which is species actually lives
geographic range
areas of the world in which a species lives
mass extinction
a large number of species that when extinct over relatively short period of time
periodic distribution
occurring regularly, such as the cycles of day and night or the daily and monthly cycles of the moon’s effect on ocean tides
episodic distribution
occurring somewhat regularly, such as cycles of high rain and low rain that occur every 5 to 10 years
random distribution
occurring with no regular pattern, such as volcanic eruptions or hurricanes
resistance
in an ecosystem, a measure of how much a disruption can affect the flows of energy and matter
resilience
the rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disruption
intermediate disturbance hypothesis
the hypothesis that ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance will favor a higher level of diversity of species than those with high or low disturbance levels
evolution
a change in the genetic composition of a population over time
microevolution
evolution at the population level
macroevolution
evolution that gives rise to new species, genera, families, classes, or phyla
evolution by artificial selection
the process in which humans determine which individuals to breed, typically with a preconceived set of traits in mind
evolution by natural selection
the process in which the environment determines which individuals survive and reproduce
fitness
an individual’s ability to survive and reproduce
adaptation
a trait that improves an individual’s fitness
evolution by random processes
the processes that alter the genetic composition of a population over time, but the changes are not related to differences in fitness among individuals
allopatric speciation
the process of speciation that occurs with geographic isolation
sympatric speciation
the evolution of one species into two species, without any geographic isolation
genetically modified organism (GMO)
an organism produced by copying genes from a species with some desirable trait and inserting them into other species of plants, animals, or microbes
ecological succession
the predictable replacement of one group of species by another group of species over time
primary succession
ecological succession occurring on surfaces with bare rock and no soil
pioneer species
in primary succession, species that can survive with little or no soil
secondary succession
the succession of plant life that occurs in areas that have been distributed but have not lost their soil
climax community
historically described as the final stage of succession
keystone species
a species that is not very abundant but has large effects on an ecological community
indicator species
a species that demonstrates a particular characteristic of an ecosystem
endemic species
species that live in a very small area of the world and nowhere else, often in isolated locations such as the Hawaiian Islands
biodiversity hotspots
isolated areas that are home to so many endemic species, that they contain a high proportion of all the species found on Earth
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