| A | B |
|---|
| biodiversity | biological diversity; the sum total fo the variety of organisms in the biosphere |
| ecosystem diversity | variety of habitats, living communities and ecological processes in the living world |
| species diversity | number of diffrent species in the biosphere |
| genetic diversity | sum total of all the diffrent forms of gentic information carried by all organisms living on Earth today |
| extinction | disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographical range |
| endangered species | species whose population size is rapidly declining and will become extinct if the trend continues |
| habitat fragmentation | splitting of ecosystems into small fragments |
| biological magnification | increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web |
| invasive species | plants and animals that have migrated to places where they are not native |
| conservation | A goal-oriented science that seeks to counter the biodiversity crisis, the current rapid decrease in Earth's variety of life |
| agriculture | raising animals for human consumption |
| monoculture | Cultivation of large land areas with a single plant variety |
| green revolution | the development of highly productive crop strains and the use of modern agriculture techniques to increase yeilds of food crops |
| renewable resource | resource that can regenerate quickly and that is replacable |
| nonrenewable resource | resorces that cannot be replenished by natural processes |
| sustainable development | The long-term prosperity of human societies and the ecosystems that support them |
| soil erosion | wearing away of surface soil by water and wind |
| desertification | process caused bypoor farming practices causing drought |
| deforestaion | destruction of forests |
| aquaculture | raising aquatic animals for human consumption |
| smog | mixture of chemicals that occurs as a gray-brown haze in the atmosphere |
| pollution | harmful material that can enter the biosphere |
| acid rain | Rain that is more acidic than pH 5.6 |
