ENVI-1.0

• Biotic components


  The living components of the environment, such as plants, animals and fungi
• Abiotic components


  The non-living components of the environment, such as sunlight, rock types, slope, geographic setting and climate, that affect ecological functions
• Species


  The basic unit of biological classification, capable of interbreeding and producing viable offspring
• Population


  All living things of the same species in a habitat at any one time, capable of breeding among themselves
• Community


  All living things in a habitat, the total of all populations in the habitat
• Niche


  The role or function of an organism within the ecosystem, its contribution to the success of the ecosystem
• Habitat


  The physical location of an organism
• Ecosystem


  A natural unit of living or biotic components, together with non-living or abiotic surroundings, through which energy flows in nutrient cycle
• Ecosystems are relatively self-contained, tending to perpetuate themselves by cycling and recycling minerals within itself
• Habitat


  The locality in which an organism occurs; where the organism is normally found
• Microhabitat


  An extremely small habitat
• Earth's mantle


  The layer that lies directly below the Earth's crust and above the Earth's outer core, extending from 30 to 2900 kilometres below the surface
• Atmosphere


  The gases held around a planet by its gravitational force
• Lithosphere


  The upper layer of the Earth, including the oceanic and continental crusts and parts of the cooler, solid, upper mantle
• Hydrosphere


  The part of the Earth composed of water, including clouds, oceans, seas, ice caps, glaciers, lakes, rivers, underground water supplies and atmospheric water vapour
• Geosphere


  The part of the Earth that includes all the land masses and water masses, comprising the lithosphere plus the hydrosphere
• Biosphere


  The part of the Earth that is able to support life, extending from the bottom of the ocean to the upper atmosphere
• Ecotone


  The border between two major ecosystems, a transition zone containing plants and animals from the adjacent ecological regions
• Ecotone


  • It supports many species not found in the bordering ecosystems
  • It may contain a mixture of species and many unique species
  • It contains plants and animals from adjacent regions
• Biome


  A specialised and very large ecosystem or major life zone that has its own typical and distinctive vegetation, climate and soil conditions and its own distinctive biological community
• Terrestrial biomes


  • Tropical rainforests
  • Temperate deciduous forests
  • Coniferous forest
  • Tundra
  • Tropical grasslands
  • Deserts
• Aquatic biomes


  • Oceans
  • Rivers
  • Lakes
  • Coral reefs
  • Sea grass beds
  • Mangroves
  • Shores or coast lines
• The most important variables for life on land are the amount of rain and the temperature
• The most important variables for life in water are the salinity of the water, its depth, how permanent the water is and the availability of nutrients
• Summary of basic environmental terms


  • Animal
  • Biotic potential
  • Biome
  • Carrying capacity
  • Ecology
  • Ecosystem
  • Ecosystem stability
  • Environmental resistance
  • Habitat
  • Indigenous
  • Keystone Species
  • Managed resource protected area
  • Natural resources
  • Plant
  • Rare
  • Species Diversity
  • Sustainable resource use
  • Threatened species
  • Vulnerable
• Any species that is rare, vulnerable and in danger of dying out, or becoming extinct, is a threatened or endangered species
• Ecosystems are influenced by a combination of biological and physical factors
• Biotic factors


  The biological influences on organisms within an ecosystem
• Abiotic factors


  The physical or nonliving factors that shape ecosystems
• Biotic and abiotic factors together determine the survival and growth of any organism and the productivity of the ecosystem in which the organism lives
• Habitat


  Includes both biotic and abiotic factors
• Population


  Living things of the same species
• Community


  All the populations of all the different species living together in an ecosystem