Quiz #2 Terms

  • Pollution – Harmful substances in the environment

  • Point source pollution – Pollution from one clear source, like a factory pipe

  • Non-point source pollution – Pollution from many places, like runoff from farms

  • Limiting factor – Something that controls how much life can grow

  • Law of the minimum – Growth is limited by the scarcest resource

  • Top-down food web regulation – When predators control the food chain

  • Bottom-up food web regulation – When food availability controls the food chain

  • Nitrogen fixation – Turning nitrogen from the air into a form plants can use

  • Bioavailable – A nutrient that living things can use

  • Internal phosphorus loading/nutrient regeneration – When nutrients stored in a lake’s bottom return to the water

  • Haber-Bosch process – A method to make fertilizer from nitrogen in the air

  • Natural eutrophication – A slow increase in nutrients in a lake over time

  • Cultural eutrophication – A rapid increase in lake nutrients due to human activity

  • Oligotrophic lake – A lake with few nutrients and clear water

  • Eutrophic lake – A lake with lots of nutrients and algae

  • Mesotrophic lake – A lake with a moderate amount of nutrients

  • Algae – Small water plants that grow in lakes and oceans

  • Algal bloom – A sudden increase in algae growth

  • Harmful algal bloom (HAB) – An algae outbreak that releases toxins

  • Cyanobacteria – Bacteria that act like algae and can make toxins

  • Cyanobacteria HAB – A toxic outbreak of cyanobacteria

  • Acute exposure – Short-term contact with a harmful substance

  • Chronic exposure – Long-term contact with a harmful substance

  • Lethal response – A reaction that causes death

  • Non-lethal response – A reaction that causes harm but not death

  • Instantaneous response – A quick reaction to something harmful

  • Cumulative response – Damage that builds up over time

  • Carcinogenic – Can cause cancer

  • Mutagenic – Can change DNA

  • Teratogenic – Can harm an unborn baby

  • Lethal dose 50 (LD50) – The amount of a substance that kills 50% of a test group

  • Effective concentration 50 (EC50) – The amount of a substance that affects 50% of a test group

  • Bioconcentration – When a chemical builds up in an organism from the water

  • Bioaccumulation – When a chemical builds up in an organism over time

  • Biomagnification – When chemicals become stronger as they move up the food chain

  • Native species – A species that naturally lives in an area

  • Exotic species – A species brought to a new place by humans

  • Invasive species – A species that spreads and harms its new environment

  • Establishment – When a species successfully lives and reproduces in a new area

  • Environmental filters – Natural conditions that control which species survive

  • Biotic filters – Living things that control which species survive

  • Spread – When a species moves to new areas

  • Biodiversity – The variety of life in an area

  • Invasional meltdown – When multiple invasive species help each other spread

  • Propagule pressure – How many individuals of a species arrive in a new area

  • Propagule size – The number of individuals in one arrival

  • Propagule number – How often new individuals arrive

  • Suspension feeder – An animal that eats tiny food floating in the water

  • Piscivores – Animals that eat fish

  • Planktivores – Animals that eat plankton

  • Ecosystem engineers/engineering – Species that change their environment

  • Biotic resistance – When native species stop invaders from spreading

  • Ballast water – Water carried in ships that can move species to new places