Ch 1-2 Ecosystems Goods And Services

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Anthropocentric view

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human-centred view in which values are defined relativeto human interests, wants and needs

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Biocapacity:

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the amount of biologically productive area—cropland, pasture, forest,and fisheries—available to meet humanity’s needs.

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Biosphere:

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The zone of all living matter on Earth, including animals, vegetation,and the soil layer

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Crude birth rate (CBR)

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Number of births in a population per 1,000 individuals peryear.

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Crude death rate (CDR):

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Number of deaths in a population per 1,000 individualsper year.

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Crude growth rate (CGR):

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Number of people by which a population increases (per1,000 individuals per year) produced by subtracting the crude death rate (CDR) fromthe crude birth rate (CBR).

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Demographic transition:

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the transition of a human population from high birthrate and high death rate to low birth rate and low death rate.

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Ecocentric (biocentric) view:

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the view in which elements of the environment areconsidered of value based on their own existence, and are considered as having theright to exist; that a natural order governs relationships between living things.

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Ecological footprint:

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The land area a community needs to provide its consumptiverequirements for food, water, and other products and to dispose of the wastes fromthis consumption.

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Epidemiological transition:

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Change in mortality rates from high to low in ahuman population.

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Estuary

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coastal regions, such as inlets or mouths of rivers, where salt water andfresh water mix.

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Gross national product (GNP):

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The total value of all goods and services producedfor final consumption in an economy; an index used by economists as an index orindicator to compare national economies or periods of time within a single nationaleconomy.

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Indicators:

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specific facets of a particular system that tell us something about thestate of that system (but do not tell us why)

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Living Planet Index:

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An index that quantifies the overall state of Earth'secosystems.

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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment:

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an assessment, carried out by the UNbetween 2001 and 2005, of the consequences of ecosystem change for humanwellbeing that established the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance theconservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their contributions to humanwellbeing.

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Planetary carrying capacity:

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The ability of Earth and its various systems tosustain people and other organisms on the planet, expressed as a number of people(or number of any given species).

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Population age structure:

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a graphic depiction of the distribution of people invarious age groups (cohorts) for a given population.

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Replacement-level fertility rate:

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the fertility rate that will sustain a population atexisting level.

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Resilience:

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the ability of a system to absorb disturbance and still retain its basicfunction and structure; ability to return to normal after a disturbance.

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Resources

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specific elements of the environment such at trees, fish and fossil fuels.

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Subsidiarity:

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A policy and management approach stipulating that decisions shouldbe taken at the level closest to where consequences are most noticeable or have themost direct impact.

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Sustainable development:

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(economic) development that meets the needs of thepresent without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their ownneeds.

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Sustainable livelihoods:

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a human-centred approach to environmental managementthat emphasizes conditions necessary to ensure that basic human needs aresatisfied.

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Total fertility rate:

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the average number of children each woman has over herlifetime.

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Abiotic Components:

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factors such as light, temperature, wind, water, and soilcharacteristics. They play an important role in determining the distribution of bioticcomponents.

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Aerobic:

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requiring oxygen.

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Assimilated Food Energy:

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the proportion of ingested energy actually absorbed byan organism.

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Autotrophs:

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organisms that produce their own food, generally via photosynthesis(e.g., plants) but sometimes via chemosynthesis.

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Biodiversity Hotspots:

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areas with high numbers of endemic species. They arefound mainly in tropical forests.

Front 30

Biodiversity:

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the variety of life forms that inhabit the Earth. It includes geneticdiversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity.

Front 31

Biomass Pyramid:

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related to the fact that in terrestrial ecosystems, greaterbiomass generally exists at the level of primary consumers, with the least totalbiomass at the highest trophic levels. In marine ecosystems the pyramid is inverted,with greater biomass at the highest trophic level, while the primary consumers,phytoplankton, at any given time comprise much less biomass but reproducerapidly.

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Biomass:

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living matter. Total biomass is the sum of all living material, or of allliving material of particular species, in a given environment.

Front 33

Biome:

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a number of ecosystems classified together according to their similardominant vegetation and animal types.

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Biotic Components:

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those parts of ecosystems that are living; organisms.

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Calorie:

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the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of one gram(1 ml) of water by 1°C.

Front 36

Chemoautotrophs:

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producer organisms that convert inorganic chemical compoundsinto energy.

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Chlorophylls

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green pigments in plant cells that absorb sunlight, thus enablingplants to capture solar energy.

Front 38

Commensalism:

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an interaction between two species that benefits one species andneither harms, nor benefits, the other.

Front 39

Community:

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all of the populations of all species in a particular environment.

Front 40

Competitive Exclusion Principle:

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the principle that competition between twospecies with similar requirements will result in the exclusion of one of the species;no two species can occupy the same niche in the same area.

Front 41

Consumers:

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heterotrophs that cannot produce their own food and must get it byeating or decomposing other organisms (in economics, those who use goods andservices).

Front 42

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):

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an international treaty that emergedfrom the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 thatrequires signatories, including Canada, to develop biodiversity strategies, identifyand monitor important components of biodiversity, develop endangered specieslegislation/protected areas systems, and promote environmentally sound andsustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas.

Front 43

Cryosphere:

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the frozen portion of the hydrosphere

Front 44

Decomposer Food Chain:

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A specific nutrient and energy pathway in an ecosystemin which decomposer organisms (e.g., bacteria and fungi) consume dead plants andanimals as well as animal wastes. Decomposer food chains are essential for thereturn of nutrients to soil and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Also called detritusfood chain.

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Detritus:

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dead organic material, such as fallen leaves.

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Dominant Limiting Factor:

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the weakest link in the chain of various factorsnecessary for an organism’s survival.

Front 47

Ecological Redundancy (Functional Compensation):

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the presence of manyspecies in an ecosystem such that the chance of other species combining to fulfillthe ecological role of a depleted one is high. Where a given role in an ecosystem(e.g., as decomposer or as prey), can be fulfilled by more than one species withinthat system.

Front 48

Ecosphere:

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the entire global ecosystem, which includes the lithosphere, hydrosphere,and atmosphere. These three spheres combine to produce the conditionsnecessary for life.

Front 49

Ecosystem Diversity:

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the variety of ecosystems in an area.

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Ecosystem:

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a community of organisms occupying a given region, the physical andchemical environment of that region, and all the interactions amongst organismsand their environment. Short for ecological system.

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Endemic species:

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a species confined to, or exclusive to, a specific area.

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Energy Efficiency:

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the amount of total energy input of a system that istransformed into work or some other usable form of energy. May be as low as 1 percent.

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Energy:

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the capacity to do work; found in many forms, including heat, light, sound,electricity, coal, oil, and gasoline.

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Entropy:

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A measure of disorder. The second law of thermodynamics applied tomatter says that all systems proceed to maximum disorder (maximum entropy).

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Epiphytes:

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plants that use others for support but not nourishment.

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Euphotic Zone:

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Zone of the ocean to which light from the sun reaches

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Extirpated:

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an official designation assigned by the Committee on the Status ofEndangered Wildlife in Canada to any indigenous species or subspecies orgeographically separate population of fauna or flora no longer known to exist in thewild in Canada but occurring elsewhere.

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Food Chain:

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specific nutrient and energy pathway in an ecosystem proceedingfrom producer to consumer. Along the pathway, organisms in higher trophic levelsgain energy and nutrients by consuming organisms at lower trophic levels.

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Food Web:

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a complex intermeshing of individual food chains in an ecosystem, withmany competing organisms and energy paths.

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Generalist:

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a species with a very broad niche where few things organic are notconsidered a potential food item, making them successful in anthropogenic environments.

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Genetic Diversity:

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the variability in genetic makeup among individuals of thesame species.

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Glaciation:

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period of global cooling when alpine glaciers increase and continentalice sheets cover and scour vast land masses. The process of glacier growth.

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Grazing Food Chains:

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food chains where energy transfer among organisms isdirectly dependent on solar radiation as the primary source of energy, and wherethe producers (plants) are eaten by organisms that are subsequently eaten by otherorganisms.

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Gross Primary Productivity (GPP):

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The total amount of energy produced byautotrophs (mainly plants) over a given period of time.

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Heterotrophs

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organisms that feeds on other organisms.

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High-quality Energy:

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energy that is easy to use, but that disperses quickly, such asthat stored in coal or gasoline, or high-temperature heat energy.

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Humus:

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decomposed organic material found in some soils

Front 68

Hydrosphere:

Back 68

all the earth’s water

Front 69

Interspecific Competition

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competition between members of different species forlimited resources such as food, water, or space.

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Intraspecific Competition:

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competition between members of the same species forlimited resources such as food, water, or space.

Front 71

Keystone Species:

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species that have a strong influence on an entire community,and whose loss profoundly affects other species.

Front 72

Kinetic Energy:

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the energy derived from an object's motion.

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Landscape Connectivity:

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the degree to which the landscape facilitates or restrictsmovement between and among habitat patches.

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Landscape Ecology:

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the science of studying, and attempting to improve, therelationships between spatial patterns and ecological processes on a multitude ofspatial scales and organizational levels.

Front 75

Law of Conservation of Energy:

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energy cannot be created or destroyed; it ismerely changed from one form to another. Also known as the first law ofthermodynamics.

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Law of Entropy:

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when energy is converted from one form to another, it is degraded;that is, it is converted from a concentrated to a less concentrated form. Theamount of useful energy decreases during such conversions. Also known as theSecond Law of Thermodynamics.

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Limiting factor:

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A chemical or physical factor that determines whether anorganism can survive in a given ecosystem.

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Lithosphere:

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Earth's outer mantle and crust layers, which contain the minerals,and soils that provide nutrients necessary for life.

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Loam:

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soil that contains a mixture of materials (silt, sand, gravel) and humus. Thebest soils for vegetation growth.

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Low-quality Energy:

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energy that is diffuse, dispersed, at low temperatures, anddifficult to gather, such as low temperature heat energy. Most of the energy availableto us is low-quality.

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Mesosphere:

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the third layer of the atmosphere. It occurs between about 50 and 80km above Earth.

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Mutualism:

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a relationship between two organisms having to do with food supplies,protection, or transport that is beneficial to both.

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Net Community Productivity (NCP):

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the rate of accumulation of biomass,allowing for both plant respiration and heterotrophic predation during themeasurement period.

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Net Primary Productivity (NPP):

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the amount of energy available to heterotrophs.Gross primary productivity minus cellular respiration.

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Niche:

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the combination of physical, chemical, and biological conditions necessaryfor the growth of a given species.

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Optimal Foraging Theory:

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a theory that asserts that there is a point ofcompensation between the benefits and costs of obtaining prey, and that a predatorwill adjust its behaviour to optimize the benefits. It also suggests that as one type ofprey becomes scarce, most predators will switch prey if they can.

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Optimum Range:

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the ideal range conditions for the survival of a species.

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Parasitism:

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a biotic relationship in which one species lives in or on another thatacts as its host

Front 89

Parent Material:

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the material from which soil forms, such as sediment orweathered bedrock.

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Phototrophs:

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organisms that produce complex chemicals through photosynthesis.

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Phytoplankton:

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single-celled algae and other free-floating photosynthetic aquaticorganisms.

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Population:

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a group of individuals of the same species, living within a specifiedregion.

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Primary Consumers:

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the 'first' consuming organisms in a given food chain, suchas a grazer in grazer food chains, or a decomposer organism or insect in decomposerfood chains. Primary consumers belong to the second trophic level.

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Producers:

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autotrophs capable of synthesizing organic material, thus forming thebasis of the food web.

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Productivity:

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an ecosystem’s ability to transform energy into biomass. The rate atwhich energy is transformed into biomass, usually expressed in kilocalories persquare metre per year.

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Radiant Energy

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energy from the sun.

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Range of Tolerance:

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a range of conditions organisms can tolerate and still survive.

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Resource Partitioning:

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the use of resources at different times, or in differentways, by species with an overlap of fundamental niches

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Secondary Consumers:

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'second' consuming organisms in a food chain; belongingto the third trophic level.

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Soil Horizons

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layers found in most soils.

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Soil Permeability:

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the degree to which water can move through a soil. It is largelydetermined by soil texture (particles sizes).

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Soil Profile:

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view across soil horizons

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Specialist:

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a species that has a narrow niche, usually feeding on one or a few foodmaterials and adapted to a particular habitat, making them susceptible toenvironmental change.

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Species Diversity

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the total number of different species in an area.

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Species-area Curve:

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a graph showing the numbers of species found in areas ofdifferent sizes.

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Stratosphere:

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the second layer of the atmosphere, in which temperatures rise withincreasing altitude, and which contains most ozone that prevents UV energy fromreaching Earth. It occurs between 10 and 50 km above the Earth’s surface.

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Tertiary Consumers

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organisms at the top of a food chain that consume otherorganisms.

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Thermosphere:

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Uppermost (fourth) layer of the atmosphere.

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Threshold:

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a point or limit beyond which something is unsatisfactory relative to aconsideration, such as health, welfare, or ecological integrity.

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Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK):

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Beliefs, knowledge, and practicesgained through experience, normally shared and transmitted verbally; often referredto as ‘indigenous knowledge’.

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Trophic Level:

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a level of a food chain. A functional classification of organisms in acommunity according to feeding relationships. The first trophic level includes greenplants, the second level includes herbivores, and so on.

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Troposphere:

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innermost (first) layer of the atmosphere that contains 99 per cent ofthe water vapour and up to 90 per cent of the Earth’s air and is where most weatheroccurs. It is 6 to 17 km thick, varying with latitude and season.

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Zone of Physiological Stress:

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the part of the range of tolerance in whichorganisms have difficulty surviving (are stressed).

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Zooplankton:

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non-photosynthetic, free-floating single-celled aquatic organisms.