Sustaining Ecosystems Key Words

• Ecosystem:

  A community of plants and animals, and the environment in which they live
• Biome:

  Large ecosystem characteristic of a specific part of the world
• Sustainable development:

  Economic, social and environmental development to meet people’s needs now without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs
• Sustainable management:

  Using resources carefully so that future generations can also use them to meet their needs
• Producers:

  Plants that use the sun’s energy during photosynthesis to create their own food
• Nutrient cycle:

  The stores and flows of nutrients in an ecosystem
• Biomass:

  The mass, or weight, of living material in an area
• Litter:

  Rotting leaves on the ground below growing vegetation
• Soil:

  A mixture of weathered rock and organic matter (decomposed plants)
• Photosynthesis:

  The way that green plants make their food using sunlight. Process of using light for energy.
• Consumers:

  Animals that eat plants and each other
• Food chain:

  Producers and consumers linked within an ecosystem
• Food web:              

  Interconnected food chains that make up a large ecosystem
• Flora:

  Plant life
• Fauna:

  Animal life
• Temperate forest:

  Woodland of a usually rather mild climatic area within the temperate zone that receives heavy rainfall
• Deciduous:

  Trees that grow in the summer and shed their leaves in the winter
• Tropical rainforest:

  Large expanses of lush forest growing in the tropics with high temperatures and very high rainfall
• Tundra:

  Areas in the polar regions with cold winters , cool summers and low rainfall
• Conservation:

  Protection of habitats and ecosystems
• Biodiversity:

  Variety of plant and animal species
• Water cycle:

  The stores and flows of water in an ecosystem
• Indigenous people:

  The people who originated in a particular place
• Shifting cultivation:

  A sustainable way for farming in a forest by moving from one area to another
• Carbon sinks:

  An area, such as rainforest, that uses up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
• Exploit:

  Make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource).
• National parks:

  A large area of land which is protected by the government because of its natural beauty, plants, or animals, and which the public can usually visit.
• Nature reserves:

  An area of land that is protected and managed in order to preserve a particular type of habitat and its flora and fauna which are often rare or endangered
• Agroforestry:

  Growing trees and crops together
• Selective Logging:

  Trees are chopped down only when they reach a certain height to ensure the height of the canopy is maintained
• Afforestation:

  Trees are planted to replace the original primary forest that has been lost
• Monitoring:

  Satellite technology and photos are used to ensure that no illegal logging is taking place
• Ecotourism:

  Type of sustainable development that aims to create employment while conserving the natural environment
• Albedo effect:

  When ice reflects the Sun’s energy back into space
• Sea ice maximum/minimum:

  The maximum/minimum area of the Arctic Ocean covered in ice in any year
• Ice sheets:

  When ice builds up in thick layers due to accumulation of snow that does not melt – Antarctic and Greenland in the Arctic
• Ice shelfs:

  Form in the Arctic and Southern Oceans during winter when low temperatures freeze water on the surface 
• Icebergs:

  Form when ice shelves start to melt and break up due to the sea being warmer than the land – Antarctic and Arctic
• Permafrost:

  Part of the ground that remains frozen all year - Arctic
• Active layer:

  The upper layer of Arctic soils that thaws in the summer. This layer  becomes deeper the further from the north pole it is located