Elephant Corridor and How Nature Works in Harmony

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering ecological concepts, biological interactions, and environmental conservation from Chapter 12: How Nature Works in Harmony.

Elephant Corridor

Marked paths identified by wildlife ecologists that connect forest habitats, allowing animals to move between large forest areas without human conflict.

Habitat

The specific place where an organism lives, such as a pond, a forest, or even the bark of a tree.

Biotic Components

The living parts of a habitat, including plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Abiotic Components

The non-living physical conditions of a habitat, such as air, sunlight, water, temperature, and soil.

Population

A group comprising individuals of the same kind of organisms living together in a habitat at a given time.

Community

A grouping of different populations that share and interact within the same habitat.

Pollination

The process where pollen grains are carried from the stamens to the carpels of flowers by wind, water, or animals like insects.

Ecosystem

A system formed by the interaction of biotic components (plants, animals, microbes) with their abiotic surroundings.

Producers

Also known as autotrophs; organisms like plants that produce their own food through photosynthesis.

Consumers

Also known as heterotrophs; organisms that cannot produce their own food and must depend on other organisms for nutrition.

Herbivores

Consumers that eat only plants and plant products, such as deer and hares.

Carnivores

Consumers that eats only other animals, such as leopards or frogs.

Omnivores

Consumers that eat both plants and animals, including crows, foxes, and mice.

Food Chain

A simple linear sequence or representation showing 'who eats whom' in an ecosystem.

Trophic Level

The specific position or level that an organism occupies in a food chain, starting with producers at the first level.

Food Web

A complex network of interlinked food chains within an ecosystem.

Decomposers

Also called saprotrophs; organisms like fungi and bacteria that break down complex dead organic matter into simpler substances and recycle nutrients.

Mutualism

A type of relationship where both organisms benefit, such as honeybees receiving nectar while flowers are pollinated.

Commensalism

A relationship where one organism benefits while the other is unaffected, such as orchids growing on tree branches for support.

Parasitism

An interaction where one organism benefits while the other is harmed, such as ticks feeding on the blood of a dog.

A.J.T. Johnsingh

A pioneer Indian wildlife biologist who used modern tracking systems to study predators like tigers and leopards in Bandipur National Park.

Sundarbans

The world's largest mangrove forest, located at the meeting point of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers; declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in $1987$.

Green Revolution

A period in the mid-20th century, specifically between $1950$ and $1965$ in India, marked by a surge in food production through tractors, synthetic fertilisers, and pesticides.

Monoculture

The agricultural practice of growing the same type of crop repeatedly on the same land, which can lead to soil degradation.

Kunapa Jala

A liquid fertiliser made from fermented animal and plant waste described in the ancient text Vrikshayurveda.

Hoplobatrachus tigerinus

The scientific name for the Indian bullfrog, which was a significant export from India in the $1980s$.