Environmental Systems and Societies Vocabulary

Flashcards of key vocabulary terms from the lecture notes.

CITES

Endangered species - 1973

Montreal Protocol

Ozone hole - 1987

Kyoto Protocol

CO2 - 1997

EVS (Environmental Value System)

A worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual perceives and evaluates environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic, and socio-political contexts.

Transfers

Flow through a system and involve a location change.

Transformations

Lead to an interaction within a system in the formation of a new end product or involve a change of state.

Open System

Exchanges both energy and matter across its boundary.

Closed System

Exchanges only energy across its boundary.

Isolated System

A hypothetical concept in which neither energy nor matter is exchanged across the boundary.

Model

A simplified version of reality.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or destroyed.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The entropy of a system increases over time.

Entropy

A measure of the amount of disorder in a system.

Negative Feedback

Feedback that counteracts any change away from equilibrium, contributing to stability; a method of control that regulates itself.

Positive Feedback

Loops that amplify changes and drive the system towards a tipping point where a new equilibrium is adopted.

Tipping Point

The minimum amount of change within a system that will destabilize it, causing it to reach a new equilibrium or stable state.

Steady-State Equilibrium

The condition of an open system in which there are no changes over the longer term, but in which there may be oscillations in the very short term.

Sustainable Development

Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainability

The use and management of resources that allows full natural replacement of the resources exploited and full recovery of the ecosystems affected by their extraction and use.

Natural Capital

A term used for natural resources that can produce a sustainable natural income of goods or services.

Natural Income

The yield obtained from natural resources.

Ecological Footprint (EF)

The area of land and water required to sustainably provide all resources at the rate at which they are being consumed by a given population.

Species

A group of organisms of common characteristics that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

Population

A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at the same time and interacting with one another.

Habitat

The environment in which a species normally lives.

Niche (or Ecological Niche)

The role an organism plays within its habitat; where, when, and how it lives within that environment.

Fundamental Niche

Describes the full range of conditions and resources in which a species could survive and reproduce.

Realized Niche

Describes the actual conditions and resources in which a species exists due to biotic interactions.

Biotic Factors

The living part of the environment; interactions between organisms.

Abiotic Factors

The non-living, physical factors that influence the organisms and ecosystem (e.g., temperature, sunlight, acidity/alkalinity (pH), rainfall (precipitation), and salinity).

Carrying Capacity

The number of organisms – or size of population – that an area or ecosystem can support sustainably over a long period of time.

Limiting Factors

Factors that slow population growth as it approaches the carrying capacity of the system.

Community

A group of populations living and interacting with each other in a common habitat.

Ecosystem

A community and the physical environment with which it interacts.

Trophic Level

The position that an organism occupies in a food chain, or the position of a group of organisms in a community that occupy the same position in food chains.

Bioaccumulation

The buildup of persistent or non-biodegradable pollutants within an organism or trophic level because they cannot be broken down.

Biomagnification

The increase in concentration of persistent or non-biodegradable pollutants along a food chain.

Pyramid of Biomass

Represents the standing stock or storage of each trophic level, measured in units such as grams of biomass per square meter (g m-2) or Joules per square meter (J m-2)

Pyramids of Productivity

Refer to the flow of energy through a trophic level, indicating the rate at which that stock/storage is being generated.

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

Is calculated by subtracting respiratory losses (R) from gross primary productivity (GPP). NPP = GPP – R

Gross Secondary Productivity (GSP)

Is the total energy or biomass assimilated by consumers and is calculated by subtracting the mass of fecal loss from the mass of food consumed. GSP = food eaten – fecal loss

Biome

Collections of ecosystems sharing similar climatic conditions that can be grouped into five major classes: aquatic, forest, grassland, desert, and tundra.

Zonation

Refers to changes in community along an environmental gradient due to factors such as changes in altitude, latitude, tidal level, or distance from shore.

Succession

The process of change over time in an ecosystem involving pioneer, intermediate, and climax communities.

Species Richness

How many different species there are in a place

Species Evenness

How those species are distributed

Habitat Diversity

Refers to the range of different habitats in an ecosystem or biome.

Genetic Diversity

The variety of different types of genes within a species.

Simpson Index (D)

A method for measuring diversity; a high value suggests a stable and mature site, while a low value may indicate pollution, recent colonization, or agricultural management.

Evolution

A gradual change in the genetic character of populations over many generations, achieved largely through the mechanism of natural selection.

Speciation

Is the formation of new species when populations of a species become isolated and evolve differently from other populations.

In Situ Conservation

Is the conservation of species in their natural habitat.

Ex Situ Conservation

Is the preservation of species outside their natural habitats.

Edge Effect

Refers to changes in a population or community along the boundary of a habitat.

Hydrological Cycle

A system of water flows and storages that may be disrupted by human activity.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)

A measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic biological activity.

Abiotic Index

Indirectly measures pollution by assaying the impact on species within the community according to their tolerance, diversity, and relative abundance.

Leaching

Refers to the downward loss of nutrients through soil layers.

Decomposition

The breakdown of organic, formerly living matter.

Malnutrition

Is “bad” nutrition due to unbalanced diet

Undernourished

Lacking calories (not enough food)

Overnourished

Too many calories leads to obesity

Albedo Effect

Is a measure of reflectivity. More reflectivity -> less solar radiation absorbed by Earth surface. -> lower temperatures at the planet surface

Greenhouse Effect

natural and necessary phenomenon maintaining suitable temperatures for living systems. Caused by trapping gases in the atmosphere reducing heat losses by radiation back into space.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

Difference between the CBR and CDR; accounts for how quickly populations grow

Doubling Time (DT)

the number of years it would take a population to double its size at its current growth rate.