All vocabulary words For ESS (topic 1-6, except the EVS)
Introduction to Environmental Systems







Gaia Hypothesis: States that the Earth is a living organism in which feedback mechanisms
maintain equilibrium. Developed by James Lovelock.
Society: An arbitrary group of individuals who share common characteristics - location, cultural
background, religion, etc
Sustainability: the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural
resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance
MEDC: More Economically Developed Countries, includes US, Australia, European Nations,
Japan
LEDC: Less Economically Developed Countries, includes African, Asian & Latin American nations
Biosphere: Part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air or atmosphere
Pollution: Any addition to water, air, or soil that threatens the health of survival of any organism
Models and the behavior of systems












Entropy: Measure of disorder or chaos, in isolated systems entropy tends to increase
spontaneously
Equilibrium: A sort of equalization of end point
Feedback: Self-regulation of natural systems in an attempt to attain equilibrium. Can be either
negative or positive.
Negative Feedback: One change leads to results that lessen the original change, leads to steady
state equilibrium. IE Prey
Positive Feedback: Runaway cycle in which a change in a certain direction provides output that
further increases the change. IE Global Warming
Model: A deliberately simplified construct of nature. The model can be a physical working
model, a pictorial model, a set of mathematical equations, or a computer simulation.
Stable Equilibrium: AKA Static equilibrium: No change at all – condition to which most natural
systems can be compared but this does not exist
Steady State Equilibrium: constant changes in all directions maintain a constant state (no net
change) – common to most open systems in nature
System: A set of components that function and interact in some regular, predictable manner
and can be isolated for the purposes of observation and study.
Closed System: Exchange energy but not matter, IE Earth
Isolated System: Exchange neither matter nor energy with its surroundings, i.e. the cosmos
Open System: Exchange matter and energy with its surroundings, i.e. Coral reef
Population Dynamics






Abiotic Factor: The physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem
Biotic Factor: biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem
Carrying Capacity: The largest number of individuals of a population that a given environment
can sustainably support. Depends on interaction between biotic potential and environmental
resistance.
Habitat: the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs
K-Strategist: Species that have small numbers of offspring, increasing survival rates and adapting
them for long-term communities
Population: A group of individuals of the same species found in the same area (habitat) at the
same time
Succession








Climax Community: community of organisms that is more or less stable, in equilibrium with
natural environmental conditions
Community: A group of populations interacting in a particular area. IE Fish community of Ponce
Inlet
Evolution: The cumulative, gradual change in genetic characteristics of successive generations of
a species or race of an organism, making them different from ancestors
K strategists:
R strategists:
Sere: A seral community (or sere) is an intermediate stage found in ecological succession in an
ecosystem advancing towards its climax community.
Succession: The gradual change in species composition of a given area over time.
o Primary Succession: The Gradual establishment of biological communities on lifeless
ground
o Secondary Succession: The reestablishment of biotic communities in an area where they
already existed
Zonation: Horizontal / Vertical bands or zones of animals and organisms. Created by physical
and biological factors
Community Ecology:

Community: A group of populations interacting in a particular area. IE Fish community of Ponce
Inlet




Competition: The common demand by two or more organisms upon a limited supply of a
resource
Mutualism: A relationship between two species in which both species benefit
Niche: The role of an organism in its environment (multidimensional): nocturnal predator of
small mammals in the forest
Parasitism: A relationship in which one partner obtains nutrients at the expense of the host
Food Chains, Webs, and Pyramids






Abiotic Factor: The physical, or nonliving, factor that shapes an ecosystem
Biomass: The total mass of organic matter in organisms and ecosystems in a given unit area
Biotic Factor: biological influence on organisms within an ecosystem
Ecosystem: A system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical
environment
Standing Crop:
Trophic Level: The position an organism has in the food chain
Terrestrial Biomes

Biome: Regions of the earth characterized by specific climates and community types
o Do not have sharply defined boundaries
o Cross national boundaries

Latitude: Measurement of distance north or south of the Equator, measured in degrees
Ecosystem Productivity







Gross productivity: Total biomass produced
Gross primary productivity: Rate at which producers use photosynthesis to make more biomass
Gross secondary productivity:
Net productivity: Total biomass produced minus amount used by organism
Net primary productivity: Rate at which energy for use by consumers is stored in new biomass
Primary productivity: productivity at 1st trophic level
Secondary productivity: Productivity at higher trophic level
Human Populations: Population Dynamics


Crude Birth Rate: # live births / 1000 people in year population
Crude Death Rate: # deaths / 1000 people in year population




Demographic Transition: A general model describing changing levels of fertility and mortality in
human population over time
o
Doubling Time: Time necessary for population to double
o 70 / rate of increase = doubling time
Fertility:
o Replacement Fertility – number of children a couple must bear to replace themselves –
roughly 2.1
o Total fertility rate (TFR)= # of children a woman will have in her childbearing years (1549)
 1.6 in developed countries, 3.1 in developing countries
Rate of natural increase: The percentage by which a population grows in a year
o Crude birth rate – crude death rate
Resources and Natural Capital





GNP (Gross national product): Sum of goods and services produced in a country
o GDP = GNP – net income from abroad
Natural Capital: The natural assets and the services they perform. One component of the wealth
of a nation.
Nonrenewable natural capital: Like inventories, using it requires liquidating part of the stock
Renewable natural capital: Self producing and self maintaining
Replenishable natural capital: Non living and dependent on solar engine for renewal
o Groundwater, Ozone layer
Comparison of Energy Resources

Greenhouse gases: Gases that absorb infrared radiation, causing global warming
o CO2, N2O,O3

Renewable natural capital: natural assets that can be renewed


Nonrenewable natural capital: natural assets that cannot be renewed
Pollution: The addition to the environment of a substance/agent by human activity at a rate
greater then what would render it harmless
Soil resources



Soil: mixture of mineral particles and organic material
Soil Profile: Cross sectional view of soil horizons
Biodegradable: able to be decomposed by biological forces, especially bacteria
Limits to Growth of Human Population


Ecological footprint: The area of land and water required to support a defined human
population at a given standard of living
Environmental Impact Assessment: A method of detailed survey required in some countries
before initiating a major development
Biodiversity in Ecosystems










Biodiversity: the amount of biological or living diversity per unit area. It includes the concepts of
species diversity, genetic diversity and habitat diversity
Diversity: A generic term for heterogeneity. The scientific meaning of diversity becomes clear
from the context in which it is used; it may refer to heterogeneity of species, habitats or genes.
o Diversity = Stability
Diversity index: A numerical measure of species diversity that is derived from both the number
of species (variety) and their proportional abundance.
Genetic diversity: The range of genetic material present in a gene pool or population of a species
Habitat diversity: The range of different habitats or number of ecological niches per unit area in
an ecosystem, community or biome. Conservation of habitat diversity usually leads to
conservation of species and genetic diversity
Isolation: The process by which two populations become separated by geographical, behavioral,
genetic, or reproductive factors - may lead to new species
Plate Tectonics: The movement of 8 major and several minor rigid plates of the earth's
lithosphere in relation to each other
Species diversity: Variety among species per unit area. Includes both the number of species
present and their abundance.
Speciation: The formation of new species as a result of evolution
Species: A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile viable offspring
Pollution



Pollution: The addition to an environment of a substance or an agent (such as heat) by human
activity faster than it can be rendered harmless by the environment and which has an
appreciable effect on organisms within it
o Results from:
 Combustion of fossil fuels
 Domestic and industrial waste
 Manufacturing
 Agriculture systems
Point source pollution: Pollutants discharged from a single identifiable location
Non-point source pollution: Pollution that comes from many different sources
Eutrophication



Biological oxygen demand: Measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen required to break down
the organic material in a given volume of water through aerobic biological activity
Eutrophication: The natural or artificial enhancement of a body of water, particularly with
respect to nitrates and phosphates, that results in depletion of the oxygen content of the water
o Accelerated by human activities that add detergents, sewage or agricultural fertilizers to
bodies of water
Positive feedback: Runaway cycle in which a change in a certain direction provides output that
further increases the change. IE Global Warming
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion




Halogenated organic gases: Often regarded as halocarbons, potent greenhouse gases
Pollution: The addition to the environment of a substance/agent by human activity at a rate
greater then what would render it harmless
Non-point source pollution: Pollution that comes from many different sources
Replenishable natural capital: Non living and dependent on solar engine for renewal
o Groundwater, Ozone layer
Urban Air Pollution


Smog: Haziness in atmosphere caused by air pollutants
Photochemical smog: Mix of primary & secondary pollutants formed under influence of sunlight
Global Warming

Correlation: Measure of association between two variables



Global warming: Increase in average temperature of Earth's atmosphere
Greenhouse gases: Gases that absorb infrared radiation, causing global warming
Negative Feedback: One change leads to results that lessen the original change, leads to steady
state equilibrium. IE Prey
Positive Feedback: Runaway cycle in which a change in a certain direction provides output that
further increases the change. IE Global Warming
