Chapter 1:

  1. Environmental Science – the field of study that looks at interactions among human systems and those found in nature
  2. Biophillia–an appreciation for life
  3. Replication – the data collection procedure of taking repeated measurements
  4. Precision – how close the repeated measurements of a sample are to one another
  5. Inductive Reasoning – the process of making general statements from specific facts or examples
  6. Environmental Justice – a social movement and field of study that focuses on equal enforcement of environmental laws and eliminating disparities in the exposure of environmental harms to different ethnic and socioeconomic groups within a society.
  7. Environmentalists – a person who participates in environmentalism, a social movement that seeks to protect the environment through lobbying, activism, and education.
  8. Sustainability – living on Earth in a way that allows humans to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources
  9. Biodiversity – the diversity of life forms in an environment
  10. Anthropogenic – derived from human activities
  11. Ecological development – improvement in human well-being through economic advancement
  12. Theory–a hypothesis that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by multiple groups of researchers and has reached wide acceptance

Chapter 2:

  1. Matter – anything that occupies space and has mass
  2. Mass – a measurement of the amount of matter an object contains
  3. Molecule – a particle containing more than one atom
  4. Isotope – atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons
  5. Radioactive decay – the spontaneous release of material from the nucleus of radioactive isotopes
  6. Half-life – the time it takes for one-half of an original radioactive parent atom to decay
  7. Law of Conservation of Matter – a law of nature stating that matter cannot be created or destroyed
  8. Inorganic Compound – a compound that does not contain the element carbon or contains carbon bound to elements other than hydrogen
  9. Organic Compound – a compound that contains carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds
  10. 1st Law of Thermodynamics
  11. 2nd Law of Thermodynamics – the law stating that when energy is transformed, the quantity of energy remains the same, but its ability to do work diminishes
  12. Entropy – randomness in a system
  13. Open System – a system in which exchanges of matter or energy occur across system boundaries
  14. Closed System – a system in which matter and energy exchanges do not occur across boundaries

Chapter 3:

  1. Detritivores – an organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissue and waste products into smaller particles
  2. Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) – the total amount of solar energy that producers in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time.
  3. Net Primary Productivity (NPP) – the energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire
  4. Biomass–the total mass of all living matter in a specific area
  5. Standing Crop – the amount of biomass present in an ecosystem at a given time
  6. Ecological Efficiency – the proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another
  7. Biosphere – the region of our planet where life resides, the combination of all ecosystems on Earth
  8. Biogeochemical Cycle – the movements of matter within and between ecosystems
  9. Hydrologic Cycle – the movement of water through the biosphere
  10. Transpiration – the release of water from leaves during photosynthesis
  11. Evapotranspiration – the combined amount of evaporation and transpiration
  12. Runoff – water that moves across the land surface and into streams and rivers
  13. Macronutrients – the six key elements that organisms need in relatively large amounts: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur
  14. Limiting Nutrient – a nutrient required for the growth of an organism but available in a lower quantity than other nutrients
  15. Nitrogen Fixation – a process by which some organisms can convert nitrogen gas molecules directly into ammonia
  16. Leaching – the transportation of dissolved molecules through the soil via groundwater
  17. Disturbance – an event, caused by physical, chemical, or biological agents, resulting in changes in population size or community composition
  18. Water Shed – all land in a given area that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland
  19. Resistance – a measure of how much a disturbance can affect flows of energy and matter in an ecosystem
  20. Resilience- the rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance
  21. Restoration Ecology – the study and implementation of restoring damaged ecosystems
  22. Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis – the hypothesis that ecosystems experience intermediate levels of disturbance are more diverse than those with high or low disturbance levels
  23. Instrumental Value – something that has worth as an instrument or a tool that can be used to accomplish a goal
  24. Intrinsic Value – the worth independent of any benefit it may provide to humans, the moral value of a life
  25. Provisions – a good that humans can use directly

Chapter 4:

  1. Troposphere – a layer of the atmosphere closest to the surface of Earth, extending up to approximately 16km and containing most of the atmosphere’s nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor. Where weather occurs.
  2. Stratosphere – the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere, extending roughly 16 to 50km above the surface of the Earth. Where you find the ozone layer
  3. Albedo–the percentage of incoming sunlight reflected from a surface
  4. Saturation Point – the maximum amount of water vapor in the air at a given temperature
  5. Adiabatic Cooling – the cooling effect of reduced pressure on air as it rises higher in the atmosphere and expands
  6. Adiabatic Heating – the heating effect of increased pressure on air as it sinks toward the surface of Earth and decreases in volume
  7. Latent Heat Release – the release of energy when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into liquid water
  8. Hadley Cell – a convection current in the atmosphere that cycles between the equator and 30oN and 30oS
  9. Polar Cell – a convection cell in the atmosphere, formed by air that rises at 60oN and 60oS and sinks at the poles, 90oN and 90oS
  10. Coriolis Effect – the deflection of an object’s path due to the rotation of Earth
  11. Gyres – a large-scale patter of water circulation that moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere
  12. Upwelling – the upward movement of ocean water toward the surface as a result of diverging currents
  13. Thermohaline Circulation – an oceanic circulation patter that drives the mixing of surface water and deep water
  14. Rain Shadow – a region with dry conditions found on the leeward side of a mountain range as a result of humid winds from the ocean causing precipitation on the windward side
  15. Permafrost – an impermeable, permanently frozen layer of soil
  16. Littoral Zone – the shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds where most algae and emergent plants grow
  17. Limnetic Zone – a zone of open water in lakes and ponds
  18. Phytoplankton – floating algae
  19. Profundal Zone – a region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes
  20. Intertidal Zone – the narrow bank of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide
  21. Photic Zone – the upper layer of water in the ocean that receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis
  22. Aphotic Zone – the layer of ocean water that lacks sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis
  23. Chemosynthesis – a process used by some bacteria in the ocean to generate energy with methane and hydrogen sulfide

Chapter 5:

  1. Ecosystem Diversity – the variety of ecosystems within a given given region
  2. Species Diversity – the variety of species within a given ecosystem
  3. Genetic Diversity – the variety of genes within a given species
  4. Microevolution–evolution occurring below the species level
  5. Macroevolution – evolution that gives rise to new species, genera, families, classes, or phyla
  6. Genotype – the complete set of genes in an individual
  7. Mutation – a random change in the genetic code produced by a mistake in the copying process
  8. Recombination – the genetic process by which one chromosome breaks off and attaches to another chromosome during reproductive cell division
  9. Phenotype – a set traits expressed by an individual
  10. Genetic Drift – a change in the genetic composition of a population over time as a result of random mating
  11. Bottleneck Effect – a reduction in the genetic diversity of a population caused by a reduction in its size
  12. Founder Effect – a change in population descended from a small number of colonizing individuals
  13. Geographic Isolation – physical separation of a group of individuals from others of the same species
  14. Reproductive Isolation – the result of two populations within a species evolving separately so they can no longer interbreed and produce viable offspring
  15. Allopatric Selection – the process of speciation that occurs with geographic isolation
  16. Sympatric Speciation – the evolution of one species into two, without geographic isolation
  17. Genetic Engineering – techniques, scientist can now copy genes from a species with some desirable trait
  18. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) – an organism produced by copying genes from a species with a desirable trait and inserting them into another species
  19. Range of Tolerance – the limits to the abiotic conditions that a species can tolerate
  20. Fundamental Niche – the suite of ideal environmental conditions for a species
  21. Realized Niche – the range of abiotic and biotic conditions under which a species actually lives
  22. Distribution–areas of the world in which a species lives
  23. Niche Generalists – a species that can live under a wide range of abiotic or biotic conditions
  24. Niche Specialists – a species that is specialized to live in a specific habitat or to feed on a small group of species

Chapter 6:

  1. Population – the individuals that belong to the same species and live in a given area at a given time
  2. Community – all of the populations of organisms within a given area
  3. Sex-ratio – the ratio of males to females
  4. Age Structure – a description of how many individuals fit into particular age categories
  5. Density-dependent Factors – a factor that influences an individual’s probability of survival and reproduction in a manner that depends on the size of the population
  6. Limiting Resource – a resource that a population cannot live without and that occurs in quantities lower than the population would require to increase in size
  7. Carrying Capacity (K) – the limit of how many individuals in a population the food supply can sustain
  8. Density-independent Factors – a factor that has the same effect on an individual’s probability of survival and the amount of reproduction at any population size
  9. Growth Rate – the number of offspring an individual can produce in a given time period, minus the death of the individual or any of its offspring during the same period
  10. Intrinsic Growth Rate (r) – the maximum potential for growth of a population under ideal conditions with unlimited resources
  11. Overshoot – when a population becomes larger than the environment’s carrying capacity
  12. Die-off – a rapid decline in a population due to death
  13. K-selected Species – a species with a low intrinsic growth rate that causes the population to increase slowly until it reaches carrying capacity
  14. R-selected Species – a species that has a high intrinsic growth rate, which often leads to population overshoots and die-offs
  15. Corridors – a strip of natural habitat that connects separated populations
  16. Metapopulations–a group of spatially distinct populations that are connected by occasional movements of individuals between them
  17. Competition – the struggle of individuals to obtain a limiting resource
  18. Competitive Exclusion Principal – the principle stating that two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot coexist
  19. Resource Partitioning – a situation in which two species divide a resource, based on differences in their behavior or morphology
  20. Keystone Species – a species that is far more important in its community than its relative abundance might suggest
  21. Ecosystem Engineers – a keystone species that creates or maintains habitat for other species

Chapter 7:

  1. Demography – the study of human populations and population trends
  2. Immigration – the movement of people into a country or region, having come from another country or region
  3. Emigration – the movement of people out of a country or region, to settle in another country or region
  4. Crude Birth Rate (CBR) – the number of births per 1,000 individuals per year
  5. Crude Death Rate (CDR) – the number of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year
  6. Doubling Time – the number of years it takes a population to double
  7. Total Fertility Rate (TFR) – an estimate of the average number of children that each woman in a population will bear throughout her childbearing years
  8. Replacement Level Fertility – the total fertility rate required to offset the average number of deaths in a population in order to maintain the current population size.
  9. Developed Countries – a country with relatively high levels of industrialization and income
  10. Developing Countries – a country with relatively low levels of industrialization and income
  11. Life Expectancy – the average number of years that an infant born in a particular year in a particular country can be expected to live, given the current average life span and death rate in that country
  12. Infant Mortality Rate – the number of death of children under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births
  13. Child Mortality Rate – the number of deaths of children under the age of 5 per 1,000 live births
  14. Population Momentum – continued population growth that does not slow in response to growth reduction measures
  15. Net Migration Rate – the difference between immigration and emigration in a given year per 1,000 people in a country
  16. Family Planning – the practice of regulating the number or spacing of offspring through the use of birth control
  17. Affluence – the state of having plentiful wealth; the possession of money, goods, or property
  18. Urban Area – an area that contains more than 385 people per square kilometer (1,000 people per square mile)
  19. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – a measure of the value of all products and services produced in a country in a year

Chapter 8:

  1. Magma – molten rock
  2. Plate Tectonics – the theory that the lithosphere of Earth is divided into plates, most of which are in constant motion
  3. Tectonic Cycle – the cycle of processes that build up and break down the lithosphere
  4. Subduction – the process of one crustal plate passing under another
  5. Volcano – a vent in the surface of Earth that emits ash, gases, and/or molten lava
  6. Divergent Plate Boundary – an area beneath the ocean where tectonic plates move way from each other
  7. Seafloor Spreading – the formation of new ocean crust as a result of magma pushing upward and outward from Earth’s mantle to the surface
  8. Convergent Plate Boundary – an area where plates move toward one another to collide
  9. Transform Fault Boundary – an area where tectonic plates move sideways past each other
  10. Fault – a fracture in rock caused by a movement of Earth’s crust
  11. Earthquakes – the sudden movement of Earth’s crust caused by a release of potential energy along a geologic fault and usually causing a vibration or trembling at Earth’s surface
  12. Seismic Activity – the frequency and intensity of earthquakes
  13. Epicenter – the exact point on the surface of Earth directly above the location where rock ruptures during an earthquake
  14. Rock Cycle– the continue formation and destruction of rock on and below the surface of Earth
  15. Fractures – in geology, a crack that occurs in rocks as it cools
  16. Physical Weathering – the mechanical breakdown of rocks and minerals
  17. Chemical Weathering – the breakdown of rocks and minerals by chemical reactions, the dissolving of chemical elements from rocks, or both
  18. Acid Precipitation/Rain – precipitation high in sulfuric acid and nitric acid from reactions between sulfur dioxide and water vapor and nitrogen oxides and water vapor in the atmosphere
  19. Erosion – the physical removal of rock fragments from a landscape or ecosystem
  20. Deposition – the accumulation or depositing of eroded material such as sediment, rock fragments, or soil
  21. Soil – a mix of geologic and organic components that forms a dynamic membrane covering much of Earth’s surface
  22. Parent Material – rock underlying soil; the material from which the inorganic components of a soil are derived
  23. Horizons – layers in the soil that are developed as the soil develops, have distinct characteristics
  24. Topsoil (A Horizon)– frequently the top layer of soil, characterized by mixing of organic material and mineral material
  25. Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) – the ability of a particular soil to absorb and release cations
  26. Base Saturation – the proportion of soil bases to soil acids, expressed as a percentage
  27. Soil Degradation – the loss of some or all of a soil’s ability to support plant growth
  28. Crustal Abundance – the average concentration of an element in Earth’s crust

Chapter 9:

  1. Aquifers – a permeable layer of rock and sediment that contains groundwater
  2. Unconfined Aquifer – an aquifer made of porous rock covered by soil, which water can easily flow into and out of
  3. Confined Aquifer – an aquifer surrounded by a layer of impermeable rock or clay that impedes water flow
  4. Water Table–the uppermost level at which the water in a given area fully saturates rock or soil
  5. Groundwater Recharge – a process by which water percolates through the soil and works its way into an aquifer
  6. Springs – a natural source of water formed wen water from an aquifer percolates up to the ground surface
  7. Artesian Well – a well created by drilling a hole into a confined aquifer
  8. Cone of Depression–an area from which the groundwater has been rapidly withdrawn
  9. Saltwater Intrusion–an infiltration of salt water in an area where groundwater pressure has been reduced from extensive drilling of wells
  10. Floodplain – the land adjacent to a river
  11. Oligotrophic – a lake with a low level of productivity as a result of low amount of nutrients in the water
  12. Mesotrophic – a lake with a moderate level of productivity
  13. Eutrophic – a lake with a high level of productivity
  14. Impermeable Surfaces – pavement or buildings that do not allow water penetration
  15. Levee – an enlarged bank built up on each side of a river to prevent flooding
  16. Dikes – a structure built to prevent ocean waters from flooding adjacent land
  17. Dam – a barrier that runs across a river or stream to control the flow of water
  18. Reservoir – a body of water created by blocking the natural flow of a waterway
  19. Fish Ladders – a stair-like structure that allows migrating fish to get around a dam
  20. Aqueducts – a canal or ditch used to carry water from one location to another
  21. Desalination – the process of removing the salt from salt water
  22. Hydroponic Agriculture – the cultivation of plants in greenhouse conditions by immersing roots in a nutrient rich solution

Chapter 10: