Glossary Key Terms

Question 0

Agenda 21

Answer 0

Outcome of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit - blueprint for action to achieve sustainable development worldwide

Question 1

Acid rain

Answer 1

Any precipitation which is distinctly more acid than normal rainfall (pH 5.5-6) - caused by emissions of sulfur dioxides and/or oxides of nitrogen

Question 2

Agribusiness

Answer 2

Farming based on the desire to maximize productivity and profit in order to compete in a global market. Involves large-scale monocultures, intensive use of fertilisers and pesticides, mechanised ploughing and harvesting & food production geared to mass markets including export

Question 3

Albedo

Answer 3

The amount of incoming solar energy reflected back into the atmosphere by the earths surface

Question 4

Altruism

Answer 4

Unselfish concern for the welfare of others

Question 5

Anoxia

Answer 5

Total decrease in levels of oxygen - low levels of oxygen

Question 6

Anthropocentric

Answer 6

Human-centred worldview where nature exists and is used for human benefit

Question 7

Bioaccumulation

Answer 7

Pesticides build up in the body tissue - mainly fats - of primary consumers

Question 8

Biomagnification

Answer 8

Pesticides become concentrated in animal tissues at each successive trophic level of a food chain

Question 9

Birth rate, age specific (ASBR)

Answer 9

The number of births per 100 women of any specified year groups

Question 10

Buffer zone

Answer 10

Areas of habitat - which may be either disturbed or managed - that surround conservation areas

Question 11

Interspecific competition

Answer 11

Competition between different species

Question 12

Intraspecific competition

Answer 12

Competition within a species

Question 13

CITES

Answer 13

International agreement between governments that aims to ensure international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival

Question 14

In situ conservation

Answer 14

Helping to protect a species in zoos

Question 15

DDT

Answer 15

Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane - a synthetic pesticide that is strongly absorbed by soils - not very soluble in water but very soluble in lipids (fats) and so builds up in the fatty tissue of organisms

Question 16

Density- dependent factors

Answer 16

Factors that lower birth rate or raise death rate as a population grows in size

Question 17

Density-independent factors

Answer 17

Factors that affect a population irrespective of population density e.g environmental change

Question 18

Diversity

Answer 18

The number of species and their relative abundance in a given area or sample

Question 19

Ecocentric

Answer 19

A worldview that sees nature as having an inherent value

Question 20

Ecological deficit

Answer 20

Relates to the available capacity of a country - if the ecological footprint of the country exceeds the biologically productive area then the country has an ecological deficit

Question 21

Ecological footprint

Answer 21

Represents the hypothetical area of land required by a society, group or individual to fulfil all their resource needs and assimilation of wastes

Question 22

Stable equilibrium

Answer 22

Where a system returns to the original equilibrium following disturbance

Question 23

Static equilibrium

Answer 23

Systems where there is no input or output of energy and matter and there is no change in the state over time

Question 24

Steady-state equilibrium

Answer 24

Despite constant inputs and outputs of energy and matter the overall stability of the system remains

Question 25

Unstable equilibrium

Answer 25

Where a system does not return to the same equilibrium following disturbance but forms a new equilibrium

Question 26

Export subsidies

Answer 26

Government policy to encourage support of goods and discourage sale of goods on the domestic market through low-cost loans and tax relief for exporters

Question 27

Mass extinctions

Answer 27

Periods when a large proportion of the total number of species on the Earth at the time have been wiped out

Question 28

General fertility rate

Answer 28

The number of births per thousand women aged 15-49

Question 29

Total fertility rate

Answer 29

The average number of births per women of a child bearing age

Question 30

Global dimming

Answer 30

The effect of small droplets (aerosols) that reflect solar energy, blocking light from entering the lower atmosphere, thereby having a cooling effect on the Earth

Question 31

Goods

Answer 31

Marketable commodities derived from natural capital such as timber and grain

Question 32

Import tariffs

Answer 32

Taxes imposed on imports to a country that make them more expensive

Question 33

Inertia

Answer 33

Resistence of an ecosystem to being altered

Question 34

J-curve

Answer 34

Population growth curve which shows exponential growth - initially slow then increasingly rapid and doesn't slow down

Question 35

Life expectancy

Answer 35

The average number of years that a person can be expected to live, given that demographic factors remain unchanged

Question 36

Macrophyte

Answer 36

Plant that grows in or near water

Question 37

Mutualism

Answer 37

An interaction in which two organisms live together and both species benefit from the relationship

Question 38

Neonatal deaths

Answer 38

Deaths that occur between birth and 7 days

Question 39

GOs

Answer 39

Governmental organisations - bodies established through international agreements to bring together governments to work on an international scale e.g UNEP

Question 40

NGOs

Answer 40

Non-governmental organisations - bodies not run by, funded by or influenced by governments of any country e.g Greenpeace, WWF

Question 41

Over-population

Answer 41

Occurs when there are too many people relative to the resources and technology locally available to maintain an adequate standard of living

Question 42

Paradigm

Answer 42

A model or template based on evidence or experience

Question 43

Parasitism

Answer 43

Interaction where one organism (parasite) benefits at the expense of another

Question 44

Photochemical smog

Answer 44

A pollution cloud at ground level caused by a mixture of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Question 45

Population density

Answer 45

The number of individuals of each species per unit area

Question 46

S-curve

Answer 46

Population growth curve which shows an initial rapid growth (exponential) and then slows down as the carrying capacity is reached

Question 47

Secular migration (siècle in French)

Answer 47

Dispersal of species over geological timescales (thousands to millions of years)

Question 48

Services

Answer 48

Ecological services derived from natural capital e.g flood and erosion protection climate stabilisation, maintenance of soil fertility

Question 49

Species richness

Answer 49

The number of species in a given area or sample

Question 50

K-strategists

Answer 50

Individuals with lower reproductive rates but better competitive ability

Question 51

R strategists

Answer 51

Individuals with a high reproductive rate and rapid development

Question 52

Succession

Answer 52

The orderly process of change over time in a community

Question 53

Primary succession

Answer 53

Succession occurring on a previously uncolonised substrate

Question 54

Secondary succession

Answer 54

Occurs in places where a previous community has been destroyed e.g after forest fires

Question 55

Technocentric

Answer 55

A worldview that sees technology as providing solutions to environmental problems even when human effects push natural systems behind their normal boundaries

Question 56

Xerophytes

Answer 56

Plants adapted to dry conditions e.g desert plants