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Chapter 16: Biodiversity
chapter 16 cards on biodiversity
23
Environmental Studies
12th Grade
12/21/2008

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Cards

Term

 

 

 

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Definition

Also known as biodiversity, is the variation among organisms.

Term

 

 

SPECIES DIVERSITY

Definition
Biological diversity that encompasses the number of different species in in an area (or community).
Term

 

 

GENETIC DIVERSITY

 

 

Definition
Biological diversity that encompasses the genetic variety among individuals within a single species.
Term

 

 

ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY

Definition
Biological diversity that encompasses the variety among ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands, deserts, lakes, estuaries, and oceans.
Term

 

 

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

 

 

 

Definition
Important environmental services, such as clean air to breather, clean water to drink, and fertile soil in which to grow crops, that ecosystems provide.
Term

 

 

 

BACKGROUND EXTINCTION

Definition

The continuous, low-level extinction of species that has occured throughout much of the history of life.

Term

MASS EXTINCTION

 

 

 

Definition

The extinction of numerous species during a relatively short period of geological time.

Term

 

 

ENDANGERED SPECIES

Definition

A species whose numbers are so severly reduced that it is in imminent danger of becoming extinct in all or a significant part of its range.

Term

 

 

 

RANGE

Definition

The area of the Earth in which a particular species occurs.

Term

THREATENED

 

 

Definition

A species in which the population is low enough for it to be at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Term

 

 

 

HABITAT FRAGMENTATION

Definition

The division of habitats that formerly occupied large, unbroken areas into smaller pieces by roads, fields, cities and other human activities.

Term

 

 

ADAPTIVE RADIATION

Definition

The evolution of a large number of related species from an unspecialized ancestral organism.

Term

 

 

 

BIOTIC POLLUTION

Definition

The accidental or intentional introduction of a foreign, or exotic, species into an area where it is not native.

Term

 

 

 

COMMERCIAL HARVEST

Definition
The collection of commercially imported organisms from the wild.  Examples include the commercial harvest of parrots (for the pet trade) and cacti (for house plants).
Term

 

 

 

BELLWETHER SPECIES

(SENTINEL SPECIES)

Definition

An organism that provides an early warning of environmental damage.  Examples include lichens, which are very sensitive to air pollution, and amphibians, which are sensitive to pesticides and other environmental contaminants.

Term

 

 

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Definition

A multidisciplinary science that focuses on the study of how humans impact organisms and on the development of ways to protect biological diversity; includes in situ and ex situ conservation.

Term

 

 

 

EX SITU CONSERVATION

 

 

 

Definition

Conservation efforts that involve conserving biological diversity in human-controlled settings.

Term

 

 

 

IN SITU CONSERVATION

Definition

Conservation efforts that concentrate on preserving biological diversity in the wild.

Term

 

 

 

RESTORATION ECOLOGY

Definition

A new field of science in which the principles of ecology are used to help return a degraded environment as close as possible to its former, undisturbed state.

Term

 

 

 

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA)

Definition
It was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untendered by adequate concern and conservation.
Term

 

 

 

COMMERCIAL EXTINCTION

Definition
Depletion of the population of a commercially important species to the point that is is unprofitable to harvest.
Term

BIOACCUMULATE

 

 

 

Definition

The buildup of a persistent toxic substance, such as certain pesticides, in an organism's body.

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