Unit 2 the living world

Adaptation

any behavioral or physical characteristic that increases fitness

Adaptive Trait

any heritable trait that helps an organism survive

Anthropogenic

Environmental change caused or influenced by people, directly or indirectly

Biodiversity

The variety of life on Earth

Cultural service

Non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems

Disruption

pressures that significantly impact the performance

Disturbance

any event that disrupts the structure of the environment

Diversity index

a quantitative measure that reflects how many different things are in a community

Ecosystem

variety of habitats that exist within a given region

Ecosystem services

any positive benefit that ecosystems provide to humans

Environmental stress

factors that negatively affect productivity, reproduction, and development

Episodic

occurring occasionally and at irregular intervals

Evolution

a process of orderly and gradual change or development

Generalist

organisms that can live under a wide range of biotic/abiotic condiitions

Genetic diversity

genetic variation among individuals in a population

Habitat diversity

Range of habitats in a region

Indicator species

give early warning signs of damage to a community

Island biogeography

the study of the ecological relationships and distribution of organisms on islands, and of these organisms community structures

Keystone species

have a larger impact on the community if removed, than other species

Limiting factors

most often in short supply and to regulate population growth

Migration

Movement of animals from one habitat to another

Natural Selection

the process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change

Periodic

occurring at repeated intervals

Pioneer species

the first species to arrive in a newly created environment

Population bottleneck

an event that drastically reduces the size of a population

Primary succession

a new habitat and ecosystem is created from only rocks

Provisioning service

any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from nature

Regulating service

Processes that maintain the ecosystem; air, soil, pollination

Secondary Succession

Restarts the cycle of succession, but not to beginning; soil and nutrients are present

Supporting service

the most basic natural cycles that nature needs to function; water cycle, photosynthesis, decomposition

Tolerance

Populations thrive within certain ranges of abiotic factors such as pH, temperature, light, moisture, etc.

Species richness

number of total species

Species evenness

Abundance of individuals within each species

Species diversity

number of species in a region or habitat

Specialist

Organisms that live under a wide range of biotic/abiotic conditions

Resilience

ability and rate of an ecosystem to recover from a disturbance and return to it's pre-disturbed state