Biodiversity and Humans - Middle School and High School

Explore the impact of humans on the world's ecosystems by learning these words. This list covers conservation and sustainability, as well threats to wildlife habitats and the environment, including deforestation, climate change, pollution, and urbanization.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. acid rain
    precipitation with toxic gas emissions combined with water
  2. agriculture
    the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
  3. air pollution
    pollution of the atmosphere
  4. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  5. biome
    major ecological community with distinct climate and flora
  6. climate change
    a shift in the world's average weather and temperature
  7. conservation
    careful management of the environment and natural resources
  8. coral reef
    a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone
  9. deforestation
    the removal of trees
  10. desertification
    a gradual transformation into arid, uninhabitable land
  11. destruction
    an event that completely ruins something
  12. ecosystem
    organisms interacting with their physical environment
  13. endemic
    native to or confined to a certain region
  14. endangered species
    a species whose numbers are so small that the species is at risk of extinction
  15. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
  16. erosion
    the process of wearing or grinding something down
  17. eutrophication
    nutrient saturation of water leading to oxygen depletion
  18. exotic
    characteristic of another place or part of the world
  19. exploitation
    the act of making use of and profiting from resources
  20. extinct
    no longer in existence
  21. extinction
    the state of being no longer in existence
  22. greenhouse effect
    warming due to solar radiation trapped by the atmosphere
  23. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
  24. herbicide
    a chemical agent that destroys plants or inhibits growth
  25. impact
    a forceful consequence; a strong effect
  26. marine
    native to or inhabiting the sea
  27. migration
    the periodic passage of groups of animals
  28. monoculture
    the act or practice of growing only one type of crop
  29. natural resource
    material in the environment that can be used by people
  30. organism
    a living thing that can act or function independently
  31. overexploitation
    exploitation to the point of diminishing returns
  32. overpopulation
    too many individuals of a given species
  33. pesticide
    a chemical used to kill destructive insects or animals
  34. poach
    hunt illegally
  35. pollution
    contamination of the natural environment
  36. population
    a group of organisms of the same species inhabiting an area
  37. preserve
    keep in safety and protect from harm, loss, or destruction
  38. reforestation
    the restoration (replanting) of a forest that had been reduced by fire or cutting
  39. resource
    a new or reserve supply that can be drawn upon when needed
  40. speciation
    the evolution of a biological species
  41. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  42. sustainability
    the capacity of being prolonged
  43. terrestrial
    relating to the land as opposed to the sea or air
  44. tropical rain forest
    a rain forest in a tropical area
  45. urbanization
    the social process whereby cities grow
  46. water pollution
    pollution of the water in rivers and lakes
Created on Fri Jan 27 16:55:21 EST 2017 (updated Mon Apr 10 14:25:24 EDT 2017)

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