Earth System Flashcards
(23 cards)
System
Systems biology is the computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of
Feedback
the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback ) or to aid …
Model
A systematic description of an object or phenomenon that shares important characteristics with the object or phenomenon. Scientific models can be material, …
Biosphere
By the most general biophysiological definition, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including …
Ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. : 458 These biotic and abiotic …
Biome
A biome (/ˈbaɪ.oʊm/) is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to a shared regional climate.
Biome
Organism
In biology, an organism (from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon) ‘instrument, implement, tool’, and -ισμός (-ismós)) is any organic, living system that functions …
Population
The term population biology has been used with different meanings. In 1971 Edward O. Wilson et al. used the term in the sense of applying mathematical …
Biotic Factor
A biotic factor is any living thing that has an effect on an ecosystem. Biotic means “pertaining to life.” A factor is something that influences another thing.
Abiotic Factor
Abiotic factor definition, a nonliving condition or thing, as climate or habitat, that influences or affects an ecosystem and the organisms in it: Abiotic …
Community
A community is a social group whose members have something in common, such as a shared government, geographic location, culture, or heritage. Community can also …
Habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and …
Niche
In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution …
Biodiversity
Comprising less than 5% of the world’s population, indigenous people protect 80% of global biodiversity. Their role is under discussion by …
Keystone Species
A keystone species is a species which has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, a concept introduced in …
exponentail growth
growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size.
logistic growth
population increase that happens in a manner that starts slowly, as there are few individuals, then increases in speed as numbers increase, but then decreases to a halt as numbers get high enough that resources are depleted and cannot support further growth
carrying capacity
the number or quantity of people or things that can be conveyed or held by a vehicle or container.
density dependent
a factor whose effects on the size or growth of a population vary with the population density.
density independent
any force that affects the size of a population of living things regardless of the density of the population
population density
the concentration of individuals within a species in a specific geographic locale.
emigration
the act of leaving one’s own country to settle permanently in another; moving abroad.
disturbance
the interruption of a settled and peaceful condition.
