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Also known as biodiversity, is the variation among organisms. |
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| Biological diversity that encompasses the number of different species in in an area (or community). |
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| Biological diversity that encompasses the genetic variety among individuals within a single species. |
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| Biological diversity that encompasses the variety among ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands, deserts, lakes, estuaries, and oceans. |
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| Important environmental services, such as clean air to breather, clean water to drink, and fertile soil in which to grow crops, that ecosystems provide. |
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The continuous, low-level extinction of species that has occured throughout much of the history of life. |
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The extinction of numerous species during a relatively short period of geological time. |
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A species whose numbers are so severly reduced that it is in imminent danger of becoming extinct in all or a significant part of its range. |
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The area of the Earth in which a particular species occurs. |
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A species in which the population is low enough for it to be at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. |
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The division of habitats that formerly occupied large, unbroken areas into smaller pieces by roads, fields, cities and other human activities. |
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The evolution of a large number of related species from an unspecialized ancestral organism. |
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The accidental or intentional introduction of a foreign, or exotic, species into an area where it is not native. |
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| The collection of commercially imported organisms from the wild. Examples include the commercial harvest of parrots (for the pet trade) and cacti (for house plants). |
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BELLWETHER SPECIES (SENTINEL SPECIES) |
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An organism that provides an early warning of environmental damage. Examples include lichens, which are very sensitive to air pollution, and amphibians, which are sensitive to pesticides and other environmental contaminants. |
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A multidisciplinary science that focuses on the study of how humans impact organisms and on the development of ways to protect biological diversity; includes in situ and ex situ conservation. |
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Conservation efforts that involve conserving biological diversity in human-controlled settings. |
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Conservation efforts that concentrate on preserving biological diversity in the wild. |
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A new field of science in which the principles of ecology are used to help return a degraded environment as close as possible to its former, undisturbed state. |
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ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA) |
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| It was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untendered by adequate concern and conservation. |
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| Depletion of the population of a commercially important species to the point that is is unprofitable to harvest. |
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The buildup of a persistent toxic substance, such as certain pesticides, in an organism's body. |
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