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Ecosystem diversity
The number of different habitats available in a given area
Species diversity
The number of different species in an ecosystem and the balance of evenness of the population sizes of all species
Genetic diversity
How different the genes are of individuals within a population
Richness
The total number of different species found in an ecosystem
Bottleneck event
An environmental disturbance that drastically reduces population size and kills organisms regardless of their genome. Surviving population is smaller and because individuals died randomly, it doesn’t reflect the diversity of the first population.
Inbreeding depression
When organisms mate with closely related “family” members. Smaller populations are more likely to experience inbreeding.
Provisioning
Goods taken directly from ecosystems or made from natural resources
Regulating services
Natural ecosystems regulate climate/air quality, reducing storm damage and healthcare costs
Supporting ecosystem services
Natural ecosystems support processes we do ourselves, making them cheaper and easier
Cultural ecosystem services
Money generated by recreation or scientific knowledge
Island biogeography
Study of ecological relationships and community structure on islands
Ecological range of tolerance
Range of conditions such as temperature, salinity, pH, that an organism can endure before injury or death
Optimal range
Range where organisms survive, grow, and thrive
Zone of physiological stress
Range where organisms survive but experience some stress such as infertility, lack of growth, decreased activity, etc.
Zone of intolerance
Range where the organism will die
Periodic disturbance
Occurs with regular frequency
Episodic disturbance
Occasional events with irregular frequency
Random disturbance
With regular frequency
Primary succession
Starts from bare rock in an area with no previous soil formation
Secondary succession
Starts from already established soil an an area where a disturbance cleared out the majority of plant life
Pioneer or early succession species
Appear first, when the ground is simply bare rock, or bare soil after a disturbance
Mid-successional species
Appear after pioneer species have helped develop deeper soil with more nutrients by their cycles of growth
Late successional or climax community species
Appear last, after soil is deepened and enriched with nutrients by cycles of growth and death by early and mid successional species
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