Study Guide

• biodiversity is the vareity of life on earth, including the number of different species and the genetic diversity of those species
• biome is a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and dominant communities
• biotic factors: all living things
• captive breeding is when animals are bred in captivity to increase the population of a species
• carrying capacity is the largest population size that a given environment can sustain
• climate is the average year-to-year weather conditions of a place.
• conservation biology is the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment, and the ways in which these interactions can be managed to maintain biodiversity
• deforestation: the action of clearing a wide area of trees
• demography: the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.
• density-dependent factor: The effect of these on population size is influenced by population density. They include competition, predation, and disease. Density dependent factors tend to be biotic and are less important when population density is low. They regulate population size by decreasing birth rates and increasing death rates.
• density-independent factor affect population size (predation, competition, disease, parasitism, food availability)
• density independent factors: The effect of these on population size does not depend on population density. They include catastrophic events such as volcanic eruptions, fires, drought, flood, tsunamis, earthquakes.
• dispersal: movement from one place to another
• endangered species: A species that has been classified as being at high risk of extinction in the wild due to its small numbers and declining population trend
• ecological succession: the process whereby communities change over time due to changes in species composition
• extinct: No longer existing; no living members left
• invasive species: nonnative plants or animals that have spread rapidly and become established in an area, often causing harm to native species
• keystone species: an organism that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure and function of an ecosystem
• Earth's primary source of energy is the Sun.
• Ecology is the study of the interactions between organisms and their environment.
• Emigration is the movement of individuals OUT OF a population.
• Exponential growth: if conditions are ideal with unlimited resources, a population will grow exponentially.
• geographic distribution (dispersion): the distribution of a species in space, often in relation to climate
• Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's surface.
• Global wind patterns are determined by the Earth's rotation, the Coriolis effect, and the position of the Earth in its orbit. (winds in the Northern Hemisphere curve right, winds in the Southern Hemisphere curve left)
• Greenhouse effect: The process by which the earth's atmosphere traps heat from the sun.
• How does intense UV radiation affect the ocean's plankton?

  UV radiation can penetrate the ocean's surface and reach plankton. UV radiation damages plankton DNA, which impairs their ability to photosynthesize, reproduce and repair themselves. This can cause a decrease in plankton populations, which have cascading effects throughout the ecosystem.
• immigration: the movement of individuals INTO a population
• limiting factor is anything that constrains a population's size and slows or stops its growth rate
• niche: the job an organism plays in its habitat
• ozone layer is a layer of ozone gas in the stratosphere that absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun
• population: all the inhabitants of a particular place
• population density is the number of individuals that live in a given area
• Population growth depends on the stability of an organism's food chain, it is determined by number of births, number of deaths, number of individuals that enter or leave a population.
• predator/prey relationship: a relationship between two organisms in which one is a predator and the other is a prey
• primary succession is the process of new land being colonised by plants and animals
• secondary succession is the succession that occurs after a disturbance that destroys the original community and leaves the soil
• sustainable development is development that is conducted without depleting natural resources
• symbiosis is the relationship in which two species live closely together
• mutualism: both species benefit