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35 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
climate variability |
variations around a mean, day to day weather changes, seasonal and year to year changes |
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climate change |
average changes over time, left to right slope, difficult to detect changes over short times, threatens human health including air quality, diseases, food, and water |
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greenhouse effect |
when temperatures rise due from when outgoing energy is trapped from the earth (sunlight that hits the earth is reflected, some becomes heat, some gases trap heat and keep the earth warm) |
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keeling curve |
charles keeling first measures CO2 at the Mauna Loa Observatory, leading the scientific community to notice the human contribution to the greenhouse effect |
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paleoclimatology |
reconstruction of past climate through proxy measures that capture small variations |
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mitigation |
actions taken to try o prevent changes (reducing carbon emissions, alternative/renewable energy, altering energy balance aka geoengineering) |
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adaptation |
actions taken to make us more resilient to anticipated changes (changes in infrastructure, retreat form the coastlines, building levees to protect facilities, international aid to assist those displaced) |
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humus |
mixture of decomposed and synthesized organic materials |
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silicate |
clays in a soil profile leached from near top (A) to lower (B) |
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oxides |
aluminum and iron in a soil profile leached from top (A) to lower (B) |
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regolith |
the layer about the bedrock (C).... broken up bedrock |
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loam |
mixture of sand, silt, clay, that is beneficial to plant growth |
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pore |
in the soil control movement of water (intake, flow, drainage) |
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porosity |
improved by plant roots, burrowing animals, and plowing or adding material such as sand or humus |
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field capacity |
maximum amount of water soil can hold before it drips out |
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wilting point |
point where water sticks to soil so strongly that it cannot be extracted by plant |
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leaching |
rainfall leaches nitrogen downward through soil, leaving soil near the top negatively-charged (acidic) |
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soil order |
12 soil order groups based upon properties, appearance, form, and structure |
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ecology |
study of the relationships between organisms and the environment |
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ecosystem |
community of living organisms and their non-living environment (pond, forest, grassland, estuary) |
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trophic level |
position an organism occupies in a food chain (primary producers: plants, primary consumers: herbivores, secondary consumers: carnivores, decomposers: detrivores) |
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habitat |
the physical and natural factors to which a specific species is adapted |
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photosynthesis |
combines sunlight with CO2 and hydrogen to produce carbohydrates for plants to use as energy later |
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biomass |
net dry weight of organic material and stored energy, greatest in tropical low elevation areas and also important in oceans |
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disturbance |
an event that results in a sustained disruption of an ecosystems structure and function |
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stability |
an ecosystems ability to resist disturbance |
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resilience |
an ecosystems ability to recover to its original state following a disturbance |
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natural selection |
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succession |
orderly sequence of different communities over a period of time in a particular area |
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biosphere |
the set of all life |
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realm |
geographic region where a group of pant and animal species evolve |
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biome |
large, stable, terrestrial ecosystem characterized by its dominant plant and vegetation structure |
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ecoregion |
large areas of land or water with geographically distinct groups of natural communities and species |
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invasive |
spread from other biomes either intentionally or accidentally, can be disruptive to established ecosystems, native or non native (exotic) |
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desertification |
unwanted expansion of the desert biome occurring at the margins of semiarid and arid lands (worldwide). human activity can stress fragile ecosystems surrounding deserts beyond its limits causing degradation of the land |