Conservation Biology

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to Conservation Biology, including definitions of biodiversity levels, threats to biodiversity, conservation approaches, environmental changes from human activities, and relevant ecological concepts.

Conservation Biology

A discipline that integrates ecology, physiology, molecular biology, genetics, and evolutionary biology to conserve biological diversity at all levels.

Mass Extinction

A high rate of extinction responsible for today's biodiversity crisis, with current rates 100 to 1,000 times greater than the background extinction rate.

Background Extinction Rate

The natural rate of extinction seen in the fossil record, which is significantly lower than current rates.

Levels of Biodiversity

The three main levels of biological diversity: genetic, species, and ecosystem.

Genetic Diversity

The genetic variation within populations and between populations, which influences a species' adaptability.

Species Diversity

The variety of species in an ecosystem or across the biosphere.

Endangered Species

A species in danger of extinction throughout all or much of its range.

Threatened Species

A species considered likely to become endangered in the near future.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

The global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

Ecosystem Diversity

The variety of ecosystems on Earth, correlating with resource and species diversity.

Rosy Periwinkle

A plant containing alkaloids that inhibit cancer cell growth, used in treatments for Hodgkin's lymphoma and childhood leukemia.

Ecosystem Services

All the processes through which natural ecosystems help sustain human life, such as purifying air and water, detoxifying wastes, and pollinating crops.

Habitat Loss

Human alteration of habitat, identified as the single greatest threat to biodiversity throughout the biosphere.

Habitat Fragmentation

The process where habitats become broken into smaller, isolated patches, leading to reduced biodiversity and higher extinction probability.

Introduced Species

Organisms that cause ecological or economic harm in a new environment where they are not native, often spreading rapidly due to a lack of natural controls.

Overharvesting

The harvesting of wild organisms at rates exceeding the ability of their populations to rebound.

Global Change

Alterations in climate, atmospheric chemistry, and broad ecological systems that reduce Earth's capacity to sustain life.

Acid Rain

Rain, snow, sleet, or fog with a pH less than 5.2, caused by atmospheric pollution from burning wood and fossil fuels.

Small-Population Approach

A conservation strategy focusing on the processes that cause extinction once a population size has been greatly reduced, such as inbreeding and genetic drift.

Extinction Vortex

A downward population spiral in which inbreeding and genetic drift combine to cause further population decline.

Declining-Population Approach

A conservation strategy focusing on threatened and endangered populations that show a downward trend, even if not critically small, by diagnosing and halting the causes of decline.

Keystone Species

A species whose effect on its ecosystem is disproportionately large compared to its abundance, central to maintaining biodiversity.

Wildlife Corridors

Narrow strips or series of small clumps of habitat connecting otherwise isolated patches, promoting dispersal and reducing inbreeding in declining populations.

Biodiversity Hot Spots

Relatively small areas with numerous endemic species and a large number of endangered and threatened species, targeted for conservation efforts.

Zoned Reserve

An extensive region including relatively undisturbed areas surrounded by human-altered areas used for economic gain, with regulations to protect the central core.

Species-Area Relationship

A general ecological rule describing how the number of species in a habitat changes with its area.

Urban Ecology

The study of organisms and their environment in urban settings, aiming to balance species preservation and ecological needs with human needs.

Nutrient Enrichment

Human activity that removes nutrients from one part of the biosphere and adds them to another, often leading to excess nutrients (e.g., nitrogen) leaching into water systems.

Biological Magnification

The process where accumulated toxins become more concentrated in successive trophic levels of food webs.

Greenhouse Effect

The warming of Earth due to the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide and certain other gases, which absorb and re-radiate infrared radiation back toward Earth.