Sustainability

• Sustainability

  A constant balance. Ex: solar pannel
• Ecosystem

  Interaction of biotic and abiotic factors with eachother. Ex: ocean.
• Sustainable ecosystem

  ecosystem capable of withstanding pressure. Ex: forest
• Abiotic factor

  Living things. Ex: Animals
• ABiotic factor

  Non living things. Ex: wind
• Biome

  Large regions of the world with simmalaur plants and animals. Ex: tropical rainforest
• Producer

  Organisms that produce food and energy. Ex: plants
• Consumer

  Organisms that need to eat to obtain energy. Ex: deer
• Decomposer


  The process of dead organic substances are broken down to simpler organic or inorganic matter. Ex: worms
• Symbiosis

  A relationship or interaction between two different organisms that share similar habitat. Ex: birds and bees
• Competition

  Relationship between organisms that strive for the same resources in the same place. The two types are: intraspecific and interspecific
• Predatation

  Biological interaction where are organism (the predator) kills and eats another organism (the prey) Ex: wolf eating dear
• Mutualism

  Both species involved in the symbiosis mutually benefit with neither organism being harmed. Ex: flowers and insects
• Commensalism

  A type of relationship between two living things in which one organism benefits from the other without harming it. Ex: whales and barnacles
• Parasitism


  Association between two different organisms where one benefits at the expense of the other. Ex: lice
• Population

  A group of an organism living in the same place at the same time. Ex: salmon
• exponential growth

  The growth of an organism at a rapid rate.
• Limiting factor

  Anything that constrains a populations size and slows or stops it from growing. Ex: forest fire
• Carrying capacity

  A species average population size
• Ecological niche

  The role that a species plays in a enviorment. Ex bumble bees pollinate
• Ecological footprint


  Measures how sustainable an individual or group of people are living in there environment. Ex: me
• Ecotourism

  A nature based, sustainable form of tourism that is now a multibillion dollar industry world wide. Ex: camping
• connectivity

  The collection of links and relation ships between ecosystems that are separated geographically. Ex: migration
• Biodiversity

  the variety of organisms found in a specific region and there interactions. Ex: bactieria
• Resilience

  The ability of an ecosystem to remain functional and stable in the presence of preasures or disturbances to its parts. Ex: the response to a fire and ability to recover
• Deforestation

  Clear cutting trees without replanting. This affects carbon levels, weather, bird, habitats, food sources, etc
• Alien species

  Species that are accidentally or deliberately introduced into a new location. Ex: lily of the valley
• invasive species

  A species that can take over the habitat of native species, upsetting the equilibrium of an ecosystem. Ex: weeds
• Paraigm

  A veiw of the world or a way of thinking about how the world works. Ex: the world is flat
• Paragim shift

  A significant change in the world view, concept, and practice of how something works or is accomplished. Ex: cod fisheries
• fair trade

  Products based on transparency in business and sustainable development. Ex: coffee
• Product life cycle

  All aspects involved in making, distribution, selling, using, and disposing of the product. Ex: apples
• Unsustainable

  events or actions that hurt the ecosystems of the environment. (consuming more then the world can naturally give back) Ex: world dependent on non renewable fossil fuels.
• Eutrophication

  Process which deposits of excess nutrients, causing overgrowth of algae. Ex: toxic algal blooms
• Green house gases

  Atmospheric gases that prevent heat from leaving the atmosphere. Ex: carbon dioxide
• Greenhouse effects

  The process when heat is trapped near earths surface, increasing the temperature of the atmosphere. Ex: earths temperature change.
• Ocean acidification

  ongoing decrease in the pH of earths ocean caused by the uptake of CO2. Ex: excess co2 in the water
• Trophic levels


  A category of organisms defined by how they get energy. Ex: primary consumer
• Biomass

  The total mass of living organisms in a defined group or area. Ex: on a soccer field the majority of biomass is grass and insects.
• Trophic efficiency

  a measure of the amount of energy transferred from one trophic level to the next higher level. Ex: grass (1000 energy) transferring 10% to a rabbit (100 energy)