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Abiotic - Non-living components of ecosystems environment that are physical and chemical factors.
Abundance - Number of organisms.
Adaptation - Structure or function of an organism that aids in survival.
Atmosphere - Thin layer of air around Planet Earth.
Baseline Data - Information describing the usual conditions.
Benthos - In or on the substrate or bottom of an aquatic system; Organisms living on the bottom.
Biodiversity (Biological Diversity) - Variety of different species, genetic variability among individuals within species, and variety of ecosystems.
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) - The amount of oxygen needed for oxidative decomposition in aquatic ecosystems.
Biomass - The accumulation of net primary production.
Biome - The largest recognizable biogeographical communities broadly corresponding to climatic regions on Earth.
Biosphere - Portion of the Earth in which living organisms exist and interact with each other and non-living factors.
Biotic - Living components of ecosystems.
Biotic Potential - Maximum rate at which the population of a given species can increase when there are no limits of any sort on its rate of growth.
Bog - A wetland dominated by Sphagnum moss.
Brackish - Less Salty than the ocean; estuaries are brackish because fresh water mixes with salty ocean water.
Canopy - Overhanging vegetation.
Carnivores - Organisms that feed primarily off meat or other consumers.
Carrying Capacity - The maximum population of a particular species that a given habitat can support over a given period of time.
Climate - The summation of weather conditions over a long period of time.
Community - Populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular time.
Conformers - Organisms that adjust to environmental conditions.
Consumers - Organisms that cannot make their own food and must obtain it from another source, also known as heterotrophs.
Detritus - Dead remains of plants or animals.
Detritivores - Organisms that decompose organic material and feed off dead or decaying material or wastes from other living organisms.
Dissolved Oxygen - Oxygen found in a water solution.
Dune - A hill or ridge of sand piled up by the wind.
Ecology - The study of the structure and function of nature.
Ecoregions - Geographic regions with differences in rainfall, temperature and vegetation.
Ecosystem - A biotic community interacting with the abiotic environment.
Epifauna - Animals that live upon the bottom.
Estuary - a relatively small body of water that is set off from the main body of water and is affected by the rise and fall of the tide. Estuaries contain a mixture of fresh and salt water.
Fecal coliform - Bacteria in the gut of warm blooded animals; used as indicators of fecal contamination.
Food Chain - The movement of energy and nutrients from one feeding group to another that begins with plants and ends with carnivore, detritial feeders, and decomposers.
Food Web - A group of interacting food chains.
Habitat - The area or place where a population or an individual species lives.
Heavy metals - A common term for certain toxic chemicals such as mercury, lead, copper, arsenic, zinc, and cadmium.
Herbivores - Organisms that feed primarily off of autotrophs or producers.
Hydrosphere - All the areas of water on Earth.
Indicator Species - Species that serve as early warnings that a community or an ecosystem is being degraded.
Infauna - Animals that live in the bottom.
Intermittent - Streams that do not flow year around.
Intertidal - In the marine environment, the area of the shore that is periodically covered and uncovered by water.
Keystone Species - Species that play roles affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem.
Land/Sea Interface - The area where the land and sea come together; the coastline.
Larva - Immature insect undergoing complete metamorphosis - (egg, larva, pupa, adult)
Law of Limiting Factors - Environmental conditions can limit survival, growth, and reproductive success.
Lentic - Water ecosystems contained in a basin.
Limiting Factor - Too much or too little of any abiotic factor that can limit or prevent growth of a population.
Lithosphere - The Earth's crust consisting of the upper mantle.
Littoral - Zone of water shallow enough to allow light penetration for rooted aquatic plants.
Lotic - Refers to a flowing water ecosystem.
Marsh - A grassy wetland.
Nekton - Actively swimming animals such as fish.
Niche - The ecological role a species plays in a particular ecosystem.
Nonpoint Source Pollution - Large or dispersed land areas such as crop fields, streets, and lawns that discharge pollutants into the environment over a large area.
Nutrient or Organic Enrichment - The result of excess nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus) or organic matter (plant or animal) being released into water.
Nymph - Immature insect undergoing incomplete metamorphosis - (egg, nymph, adult).
Omnivores - Organisms that feed off both plants and animals.
Opportunist - Organisms that eats what is available.
Oxygen Depletion - A state in which the normal amount of oxygen has been lost in a body of water by heat, respiration, decay.
Plankton - Small organisms that float in the upper layers of the water column, drifting with the current.
Point Source Pollution - A single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment.
Pollutant - A particular chemical or form of energy that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.
Pollution - An undesirable change in the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of air, water, soil, or food that can adversely affect the health, survival, or activities of humans or other living organisms.
Population - All members of the same species occupying a given area at the same time.
Producer - Organisms that produce or make their own food also known as autotrophs.
Phytoplankton - Tiny plants floating passively in water to the depths of sunlight penetration.
Riparian Woodland - Extensive wooded tracts along rivers that are periodically flooded.
Salinity - A measure of the total amount of dissolved salts in seawater.
Salt Marsh - Flat land subject to overflow by salt water. The vegetation of salt marshes may consist of grasses or even shrubs.
Scavengers - Organisms that feed on already dead organisms.
Sound - A body of water, which occupies the area between a mainland and an island.
Stream Flow - A measure of the volume of water in a stream; determined by multiplying depth (meters), width (meters), and velocity (meters per second) - units are Cubic Meters per Second. (CMS)
Substrate - The bed or bottom of an aquatic system.
Supratidal Level - The area of the beach that lies above the tide line.
Swamp - A wooded wetland.
Water Column - The area from the water surface to the bottom.
Watershed - Land areas that delivers water, sediment, dissolved substances via small streams to a major stream (river).
Weather - Refers to temperature, humidity, winds, and other conditions that exist at a given time.
Wetland - Areas transitional between aquatic and terrestrial systems where water is at, near, of covering the land surface.
Zooplankton - Tiny animals that float in water and feed on phytoplankton.
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