Untitled Flashcards Set

Environmental Science Terms Definitions

• Environment: The surrounding conditions, resources, stimuli, and influences affecting the development of an organism or community.

• Ecosystem: A biological community interacting with its physical environment, consisting of producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• Biotic: Referring to living components of an ecosystem, such as animals, plants, and microorganisms.

• Abiotic: Referring to the non-living physical and chemical components of an ecosystem, such as sunlight, temperature, and soil.

• Environmentalist: A person who is concerned with or advocates for environmental protection and sustainability.

• Environmental Studies: An interdisciplinary academic field examining the interactions between humans and the environment.

• Ecosystem Services: The benefits provided by ecosystems to humans, such as clean water, pollination, and climate regulation.

• Environmental Indicators: Specific data points that provide insights into the state of the environment, such as air quality and biodiversity.

• Sustainability: The ability to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• Biodiversity: The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem, including species diversity, genetic diversity, and habitat diversity.

• Speciation: The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.

• Background Extinction Rate: The standard rate of extinction expected over time as species naturally die out.

• Greenhouse Gases: Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect and climate change, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

• Anthropogenic: Caused or influenced by humans, particularly regarding environmental changes.

• Development: The process of economic and social advancement that enhances living standards and human well-being.

• Sustainable Development: Economic development that is conducted without depletion of natural resources.

• Biophilia: The inherent human inclination to affiliate with nature and other forms of life.

• Ecological Footprint: A measure of human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems, representing the amount of natural capital used by an individual or community.

• Scientific Method: A systematic approach to research, involving observation, hypothesis formulation, experimentation, analysis, and conclusion.

• Hypothesis: A proposed explanation for a phenomenon that can be tested through experimentation.

• Null Hypothesis: A statement asserting that there is no effect or no difference, used as a standard to compare experimental results.

• Replication: The process of repeating experiments to verify results.

• Sample Size: The number of observations or replicates used in an experiment, affecting the accuracy of results.

• Accuracy: The degree of closeness of a measured value to a standard or known value.

• Precision: The repeatability of a set of measurements or the degree to which they show the same results.

• Uncertainty: An estimate of the amount of error in a measurement or outcome.

• Inductive Reasoning: A logical process of drawing general conclusions from specific observations.

• Deductive Reasoning: A logical process of reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to reach a logically certain conclusion.

• Critical Thinking: The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue to form a judgment.

• Theory: A well-substantiated explanation of an aspect of the natural world, based on a body of evidence.

• Natural Law: A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct.

• Control Group: In an experiment, the group that does not receive the treatment and is used for comparison.

• Natural Experiment: An empirical study in which individuals are exposed to experimental and control conditions determined by nature, rather than by the investigator.

• Environmental Justice: The fair treatment of all people with respect to environmental laws and policies.

Additional Scientific Terms Definitions

1. Isotopes: Variants of a particular chemical element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

2. Radioactive Decay: The process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation.

3. Half-Life: The time required for half of the quantity of a radioactive substance to decay.

4. pH: A scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution.

5. Law of Conservation of Matter: A principle stating that matter cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system.

6. Potential Energy: The energy stored in an object due to its position or state.

7. Kinetic Energy: The energy possessed by an object in motion.

8. Chemical Energy: The energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds, which can be released during a chemical reaction.

9. 1st Law of Thermodynamics: A version of the law of conservation of energy, stating that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.

10. 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: The principle stating that the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time.

11. Energy Efficiency: A measure of how much useful energy is obtained from an energy source.

12. Energy Quality: The measure of the usefulness of energy resources.

13. Open System: A system that exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings.

14. Closed System: A system that does not exchange matter with its surroundings but can exchange energy.

15. Negative Feedback Loops: Processes that counteract changes in a system, promoting stability.

16. Positive Feedback Loops: Processes that amplify changes in a system, leading to increased growth or decline.

17. Adaptive Management Plan: A systematic process for improving management by learning from the outcomes of management actions.

18. Entropy: A measure of the amount of disorder or randomness in a system.

19. Polar Molecule: A molecule with a net dipole moment due to the opposing charges from polar bonds arranged asymmetrically.

20. Surface Tension: The cohesive force at the surface of a liquid that causes it to behave as an elastic sheet.

21. Capillary Action: The ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of external forces.

22. Ionic and Covalent Bonds: The two primary types of chemical bonds, where ionic bonds involve the transfer of electrons while covalent bonds involve the sharing of electrons.

23. Ecosystem: A biological community interacting with its physical environment, consisting of producers, consumers, and decomposers.

    Producers (Autotrophs): Organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis.

    Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods with the help of chlorophyll.

    Cellular Respiration: The biochemical process in which cells convert sugars into energy, releasing carbon dioxide and water as byproducts.

    Consumers (Heterotrophs): Organisms that cannot produce their own food and depend on consuming others for energy.

    Primary Consumers: Herbivores that eat plants or producers.

    Secondary Consumers: Carnivores that eat primary consumers.

    Tertiary Consumers: Carnivores that eat secondary consumers.

    Trophic Levels: The hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, defined by the energy source of organisms.

    Food Chain: A linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

    Food Web: A complex network of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem.

    Scavengers: Organisms that consume dead animals or decaying organic matter.

    Detritivores: Organisms that feed on organic debris and help in decomposition.

    Decomposers: Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead organic matter and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem.

    Gross Primary Productivity (GPP): The total amount of organic matter produced by photosynthetic organisms in an ecosystem.

    Net Primary Productivity (NPP): The amount of organic matter that remains after primary producers have used some for respiration; it serves as energy available for consumers.

    Biomass: The total mass of living matter within a given area or volume.

    Standing Crop: The total biomass of organisms in a given area at a specific time.

    Ecological Efficiency: The efficiency with which energy is transferred from one trophic level to another in a food chain.

    Trophic Pyramid: A graphical representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels in an ecosystem.

    Biosphere: The global sum of all ecosystems, where life exists on Earth.

    Biogeochemical Cycles: The cycles through which elements and compounds are recycled in ecosystems, such as the carbon and nitrogen cycles.

    Hydrologic Cycle: The continuous movement of water in various forms between the atmosphere, land, and bodies of water.

    Transpiration: The process by which water vapor is released from plants into the atmosphere.

    Evapotranspiration: The sum of evaporation and transpiration from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere.

    Runoff: Water that flows over the ground surface into bodies of water, often carrying nutrients and pollutants.

    Macronutrients: Nutrients required by organisms in large amounts, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

    Limiting Nutrient: A nutrient that is in short supply and limits the growth of organisms in an ecosystem.

    Nitrogen Fixation: The process of converting nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into ammonia or related compounds in soil, enabling plants to absorb nitrogen.

    Leaching: The process by which nutrients are washed away from the soil into water bodies.

    Disturbance: An event that disrupts ecosystem structure and function, such as fires, floods, or human activity.

    Watershed: An area of land where all precipitation collects and drains into a common body of water.

    Resistance: The ability of an ecosystem to withstand disturbances without changing significantly.

    Resilience: The capacity of an ecosystem to recover quickly from disturbances.

    Restoration Ecology: The scientific study and practice of restoring disturbed ecosystems.

    Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis: The theory that ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance will have the highest levels of species diversity.

    Instrumental Value: The value of an ecosystem or its resources based on their utility to humans.

    Intrinsic Value: The inherent value of an ecosystem or its components, independent of their usefulness to humans.

    Provisions: The benefits provided by ecosystems, such as food, fresh water, and raw materials.