Environmental Management - Vocabulary Review

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Environmental Management Unit 1 covering physical geography, atmosphere, hydrology, economics, ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles.

Continent

A large area of land consisting of many countries that makes up less than $30\%$ of Earth's surface coverage.

Ocean

A large body of saltwater making up more than $70\%$ of Earth's surface coverage.

Pacific Ocean

The largest ocean on Earth, covering $33\%$ of the Earth's surface and containing the Mariana Trench ($11\,034\,\text{m}$ deep).

Atlantic Ocean

The second largest ocean, covering $20\%$ of Earth's surface, divided into the North Atlantic and South Atlantic by equatorial currents.

Arctic Ocean

The smallest ocean, situated around the North Pole.

Gross National Income (GNI)

The total amount of money earned by a nation's people and businesses, used as a metric to measure a nation's wealth.

Low-income economies (LICs)

Countries with the weakest economies and least development, characterized by a GNI per capita of $\text{US}\$1086$ or less.

Middle-income economies (MICs)

Countries that have begun to develop with growing industry, defined by a GNI per capita of between $\$1,086$ and $\$13,205$.

High-income economies (HICs)

Countries with strong, well-developed economies and a good standard of living, defined by a GNI per capita of $\$13,206$ or more.

Sustainability

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

Renewable resources

Natural resources, such as timber, soil, and fresh water, that renew themselves over periods of months, years, or decades.

Nonrenewable resources

Natural resources existing in limited amounts, such as fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and minerals, which can eventually be depleted.

Ecological footprint

A measure of resource consumption expressed by the area of land and water needed to provide the resources a person consumes or the waste they generate.

Earth's natural capital

The totality of Earth's natural resources and ecosystem services.

Evaporation

The phase change process by which liquid water turns into gas.

Condensation

The process by which a gas changes into a liquid due to cooling.

Transpiration

Water vapor loss released through the leaves of plants.

Humidity

The percentage of water vapour present in the air; higher humidity levels cause plant transpiration to slow down.

Precipitation

Water that falls from the atmosphere to the ground as rain, snow, hail, or sleet.

Interception

The blocking of rainfall by vegetation, preventing water from reaching the ground.

Through-fall

The movement of precipitation water through plant foliage and directly onto the soil.

Infiltration

The movement of surface water into the soil.

Throughflow

The lateral, downslope transfer of water through the soil layer.

Run-off

Water originating from precipitation that moves downslope along the ground surface.

Aquifer (Groundwater)

Water found underground in cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and rock, functioning as a water storage store.

Groundwater flow

Subsurface water flowing under the ground until reaching the surface, often accessed via boreholes and wells.

Groundwater recharge

The process by which aquifers are replenished as rain water percolates downward through the soil.

Abstraction

The technical process of extracting water from a groundwater source.

Cone of depression

A localized lowering of the water table formed by excessive groundwater pumping, depleting surrounding water levels.

Saltwater intrusion

The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers caused by excessive groundwater pumping near coastal regions.

Troposphere

The innermost layer of Earth's atmosphere (the weather zone) where density, pressure, and temperature decrease with altitude until the tropopause.

Stratosphere

The second atmospheric layer where temperature increases with altitude; contains the ozone layer that absorbs harmful UVC radiation.

Mesosphere

The third and coldest atmospheric layer where air density, pressure, and temperature decrease with altitude up to the mesopause.

Thermosphere

The fourth atmospheric layer where solar radiation produces ions creating auroras borealis, and temperatures increase up to $2000\,^{\circ}\text{C}$.

Species

An organism whose individual members can interbreed to produce viable offspring.

Population

A group of individual organisms belonging to the same species living within a specific ecosystem.

Community

An assemblage of different populations living and interacting together in an ecosystem.

Ecosystem

The system formed by the interactions between living biotic organisms and non-living abiotic environmental factors in a defined area.

Biome

A large geographic region characterized by distinct climate, soil conditions, and vegetation types.

Habitat

The specific environment where an organism lives, fulfilling all environmental conditions required for its survival.

Niche

The full range of physical abiotic and biological biotic conditions in which an organism lives and the functional role it plays in a community.

Intraspecific competition

Competitive interactions occurring between individuals of the same species for limited resources.

Interspecific competition

Competitive interactions occurring between individuals of different species for limited resources.

Grazing

A feeding interaction where an organism moves among multiple plants, consuming parts of each without killing them outright.

Predation

A biological interaction where a predator hunts, captures, kills, and consumes prey organisms.

Parasitism

A biological interaction where a parasite lives on or in a host organism to obtain nutrients, causing harm without killing the host immediately.

Ectoparasites

Parasitic organisms that live attached to the exterior surface of their host's body.

Endoparasites

Parasitic organisms that live inside the interior of their host's body.

Mutualism

An interspecific interaction in which two or more participating species mutually benefit from the relationship.

Food chain

A linear sequence of organisms through which energy flows, where approximately $90\%$ of energy is lost at each trophic step via waste, heat, and respiration.

Photosynthesis

The biochemical process occurring in plant chloroplasts that synthesizes glucose using carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight energy according to $6\text{H}_2\text{O} + 6\text{CO}_2 \rightarrow \text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6 + 6\text{O}_2$.

Aerobic respiration

The cellular chemical process that breaks down glucose to produce ATP energy, carbon dioxide, and water according to $\text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6 + 6\text{O}_2 \rightarrow 6\text{CO}_2 + 6\text{H}_2\text{O}$.