Environmental Biology Cheat Sheet
The core ideas of Environmental Biology distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.
Quick Reference
Ecosystem
A community of living organisms interacting with their nonliving physical environment as an integrated system. Ecosystems include both biotic components (plants, animals, microorganisms) and abiotic components (water, soil, sunlight, temperature) linked through energy flow and nutrient cycling.
Biodiversity
The variety of life at all levels of biological organization, including genetic diversity within species, species diversity within communities, and ecosystem diversity across landscapes. Higher biodiversity generally confers greater ecosystem resilience and productivity.
Biogeochemical Cycles
The pathways by which chemical elements and compounds move through the biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) compartments of Earth. Major cycles include the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water cycles, each driven by biological, geological, and chemical processes.
Ecological Succession
The process of change in the species composition of a community over time following a disturbance. Primary succession occurs on bare substrate with no prior soil, while secondary succession occurs where soil and seed banks remain after a disturbance such as fire or logging.
Trophic Levels and Energy Flow
The hierarchical levels in an ecosystem defined by an organism's position in the food chain. Energy flows from primary producers to primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers, with roughly 10% of energy transferred between each successive level.
Climate Change
Long-term shifts in global temperatures and weather patterns driven primarily by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas concentrations since the Industrial Revolution. Consequences include rising sea levels, ocean acidification, altered precipitation patterns, and shifts in species distributions.
Invasive Species
Non-native organisms introduced to an ecosystem where they lack natural predators or competitors, allowing them to spread rapidly, outcompete native species, and disrupt ecological relationships and ecosystem functions.
Ecosystem Services
The benefits that humans derive from functioning ecosystems, categorized as provisioning services (food, water), regulating services (climate regulation, flood control), supporting services (nutrient cycling, soil formation), and cultural services (recreation, spiritual value).
Carrying Capacity
The maximum population size of a species that an environment can sustain indefinitely given the available resources such as food, water, habitat, and other necessities. Exceeding carrying capacity leads to resource depletion and population decline.
Bioremediation
The use of living organisms, primarily microorganisms, to degrade, transform, or remove pollutants from contaminated environments. This approach leverages natural metabolic processes to clean up soils, groundwater, and aquatic systems.
Key Terms at a Glance
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