The study of the impact of humans on the environment.

the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment.

The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to support a person or population.

any material in nature that people use and value.

Release of harmful materials into the environment.

variety of many different species in an area, the variety of species living within an ecosystem.

people who hunt animals and gather wild plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts to survive.

The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering. Started 10,000 years ago.

the change from an agricultural to an industrial society and from home manufacturing to factory production, especially the one that took place in England from about 1750 to about 1850.

The ability to keep in existence or maintain. A sustainable ecosystem is one that can be maintained.

Able to be broken down naturally.

The mostly soild, rocky part of the earth; extends from the center of the core to the surfaceof the crust.

The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another.

the mass of air surrounding the Earth.

The lowest layer of the atmoshere, in which temerature decreases at a constant rate as altitude increases.

the layer of the atmosphere that contains the ozone layer; temperature increases as you go up. Roughly 10-50 km above the earth.

a gas molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms.

warming of the Earth due to the insulating effect of gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor.

the continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back.

the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas.

the process of changing from a gaseous to a liquid or solid state.

the falling to earth of any form of water. (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)

the relative proportion of salt in a solution.

the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the Earth (or other planet) where living organisms exist.

a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment.

a living part of an ecosystem.

a nonliving part of an ecosystem.

A living thing.

group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

a group of organisms of the same species populating a given area.

(ecology) a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other.

Place where an Organism lives.

a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment.

change in a kind of organism over time; process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

inherited characteristic that increases an organism's chance of survival.

selection by humans for breeding of useful traits from the natural variation among different organisms.

animals without backbones.

animals with backbones.

plants using sunlight to make food.

makes it's own food.

must find and eat food.

breaks down dead organisms.

how an organism uses food for energy.

pathway of energy tranfer by feeding.

a diagram of feeding relationships.

the organic circulation of carbon from the atmosphere into organisms and back again.

the transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere.

gradual change in living communities that follows a disturbance.

succession that occurs on surfaces where no soil exists.

succession on a site where an existing community has been disrupted.

first species to populate an area during primary succession.

Last community in a succession.

a major biotic community characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate.

the weather in some location averaged over some long period of time.

an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator.

elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface.

number of individuals per unit area.

The pattern of distribution of organisms in a population.

growth pattern in which the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate.

largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support.

(ecology) the status of an organism within its environment and community. (affecting its survival as a species)

the act of preying by a predator who kills and eats the prey.

Symbolic relationship in which one organism lives on or in another organism and harms it.

symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit from the relationship.

relationship in which two species live closely together.

the branch of sociology that studies the characteristics of human populations.

proportion of people in different age groups in a population.

the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area.

the movement of persons from one country or locality to another.

an expected time to live as calculated on the basis of statistical probabilities.

death rate.

movement of individuals out of an area.

movement of individuals into an area occupied by an existing population.

industrialized, lower population growth.

agricultural, higher population growth.

close to extinction.

a species that could become endangered in the near future.

illegal hunting.

the area of land that is drained by a water system.

water under the earth's surface.

a body of rock or sediment that stores groundwater and allows the flow of groundwater.

The percentage of the total volume of a rock or sediment that consists of open spaces.

ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it.

suitable for drinking.

artificial body of water.

Pollutants discharged from a single identifiable location (e.g., pipes, ditches, channels, sewers, tunnels, containers of various types).

water pollution that does not have a specific point of origin.

The excessive heating of a body of water.

The accumulation of pollutants at successive levels of the food chain.

a pollutant that is put directly into the air by human activity.

A pollutant that forms in the atmosphere by chemical reaction with primary pollutants, natural compenents of the air, or both.

smoke and fog.

acid rain.

a layer in the stratosphere (at approximately 20 miles) that contains a concentration of ozone sufficient to block most ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

A compound causing ozone depletion. This reaction occurs in polar stratopheric clouds over Antartica.

an area of the ozone layer (near the poles) that is seasonally depleted of ozone.

gases in the atmosphere that trap energy.

energy source from dead organsims.

energy from atomic fission and fusion.

energy that comes back as fast as it is used

energy from the sun.

Fuel that derives from plant material and animal waste.

energy from water.

energy from heat.

consumer of plants and meat

the driving force of the water cycle

the driving forces of the carbon cycle

the number of species in an area

living factors

a relationship where both organisms are happy

the most destructive mining for the environment

solar panels, hydroelectricity, and geothermal energy

without these consumers the Earth would be covered in dead matter

coal, oil, and natural gas

shows the trophic levels

resources that can reproduce as quickly as they are used

a consumer who only eats meat

a relationship between two organisms where one benefits and the other suffers

organisms who make their own food

the first species to show up in a developing ecosystem (moss and lichen)

gases that heat the Earth

in the roots of plants: makes nitrogen useable for organisms

decomposers

Eats only producers

Amount of energy transferred to each trophic layer

Amount of energy lost from each trophic layers

Producers have the greatest amount of this

The type of gas that is released when fossil fuels are burned.

One organism is benefiting and the other one is unaffected.

Several different populations living in the same area.

The community and the abiotic factors.

Too much nitrates cause algal blooms, causing the lake to turn green

When the population grows really fast.

Creating electricity by harvesting the heat from the center of the earth.

the number one cause of organisms becoming extinct.

Using water to create energy.

Most the gas in the atmosphere is?

This type of plant creates uranium has a waste product and is hard to dispose of.

The first organisms to grow after a forest fire or a volcano eruption. Types of pioneer species.

Example or organisms that help take the carbon dioxide out of the air.

A type of succession that occurs on rocks or sand.

A type of succession that would occur after a tornado or fire.

Used to harvest sun energy.

A type of mining that is the most dangerous to humans.

What must you have that works with the steam to create electricity?

Sun is the driving force of this cycle.

When water evaporates into a cloud, the forming of a cloud is called this

When a population grows then levels out due to limiting factors, this is the

This consists of several food chains.

The non-living factors of an ecosystem.

This a a floating "island" of plastic, some scientist say it is twice the size of America!

Solid form of a fossil fuel