Unit 2 Vocab

Question 1

biodiversity

Answer 1

the variety of life in earth

Question 2

genetic diversity

Answer 2

genetic variation among individuals in a population

Question 3

species

Answer 3

organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring

Question 4

species diversity

Answer 4

the number of species in a region or habitat

Question 5

speciation

Answer 5

formation of a new species in the course of evolution

Question 6

species richness

Answer 6

the number of total species

Question 7

species evenness

Answer 7

the abundance of individuals within each species

Question 8

bottleneck effect

Answer 8

the size of the population drastically decreases in a short period of time usually from a natural disaster, and shrinks the gene pool

Question 9

niche generalist

Answer 9

can live under a wide range of conditions, and can adapt easily

Question 10

niche specialist

Answer 10

lives under a narrow range of conditions, limit competition, do not adapt easily

Question 11

biodiversity hotspot

Answer 11

focuses where the greatest number of species can be protected with the least amount of effort

Question 12

convention on biological diversity

Answer 12

to conserve biodiversity, use biodiversity sustainably, and equitably share benefits from commercial use of resources

Question 13

biosphere reserve

Answer 13

protected areas of zones that vary with amount of human impact

Question 14

edge habitat

Answer 14

when one habitat meets another

Question 15

intrinsic value

Answer 15

ecosystems have their own value independent from the needs and desires of humans

Question 16

instrumental value

Answer 16

direct/indirect short term economical value of nature

Question 17

provisioning services

Answer 17

has worth in terms of goods/services, natural goods that humans use directly such as lumber, rubber, crops, fur

Question 18

regulating services

Answer 18

benefits provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural phenomena such as carbon storage, pest control

Question 19

supporting services

Answer 19

underlying natural processes that allow earth to sustain basic life such as species habitats, genetic diversity and nutrient cycles

Question 20

cultural services

Answer 20

non materials benefits of nature that contributes to the development of cultural advancement such as ecotourism, recreation, spiritual

Question 21

range of tolerance

Answer 21

the best range of abiotic factors where certain populations thrive (pH, temp, light)

Question 22

fundamental niche

Answer 22

represents the environmental conditions where a species is able to live

Question 23

realized niche

Answer 23

an environment where a species actually lives

Question 24

endemic species

Answer 24

a species that is only found in a single geographical location

Question 25

intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Answer 25

suggests that local species diversity is maximized when ecological disturbance is not too rare or frequent. Competitive organisms will dominate when there are low levels of disturbance

Question 26

disturbance

Answer 26

a temporary change in environmental conditions that causes a change in the ecosystem

Question 27

resistance

Answer 27

the ability to remain unchanged when subject to disturbance

Question 28

resilience

Answer 28

the ability and rate of an ecosystem to recover from a disturbance and return to the predisturbed state

Question 29

restoration ecology

Answer 29

the study of supporting the practice of ecological restoration, such as renewing and restoring damaged ecosystems by humans

Question 30

phylogeny

Answer 30

branch of biology that deals with evolutionary history and relationships to study traits and DNA

Question 31

evolution

Answer 31

when organisms change characteristics over time to adapt to their surroundings

Question 32

microevolution

Answer 32

evolutionary change in allele frequencies in a species as a result of mutation, gene flow, or genetic drift

Question 33

macroevolution

Answer 33

major evolutionary change dealing with entire taxonomic groups over a long period of time

Question 34

gene

Answer 34

unit of heredity transferred from parent to offspring that holds a certain characteristic

Question 35

genotype

Answer 35

genetic and allele makeup

Question 36

phenotype

Answer 36

observable characteristics and traits of an organism

Question 37

mutation

Answer 37

change in gene structure caused by any alteration of chromosomes

Question 38

evolution by artificial selection

Answer 38

if there is genetic variation for the selected trait it will respond to the selection and the trait will evolve, by human interference

Question 39

evolution by natural selection

Answer 39

evolution and change takes place in nature without human interference

Question 40

fitness

Answer 40

the ability of an organism to pass on its genetics to its offspring aka that they can live that long

Question 41

adaptation

Answer 41

a behavioral or physical characteristic that increases fitness

Question 42

gene flow

Answer 42

the transfer of genetic material between populations that can take place through migration

Question 43

genetic drift

Answer 43

the change in frequency in an existing gene in a population due to random chance, changes variation in present genes

Question 44

extinction

Answer 44

a species or a group of organisms being completely gone from existence

Question 45

founder effect

Answer 45

when a small group from a larger population separates and results in a loss of genetic diversity

Question 46

environmental indicator

Answer 46

a value that describes the state of an environment and its impact on humans, ecosystems, and materials (ex. biological diversity, surface temp and co2 levels, human populations resource depletion)

Question 47

keystone species

Answer 47

a species that plays an important role in its community because it has a larger impact on the community than other species if removed

Question 48

ecosystem engineer

Answer 48

species that modify their environment such as creating a habitat or modifying existing ones