Dictionary Of Ecology & Environmental Sciences E-Book

Rakibul Hasan Mahmud

• Herausgeber: Rakibul Hasan Mahmud
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

This book is about a dictionary, which is based on Ecology and Environmental Sciences. The writers explained different words to help students . Students wiil get help with this.

Leseprobe

A S M Anas Ferdous, Rakibul Hasan Mahmud

Dictionary Of Ecology & Environmental Sciences

BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Chapter 1

Dictionary of Ecology and Environmental

Science

Dr. Md. Abdul Ahad

Professor, Dept. Of Entomology

Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science & Technology University,Dinajpur

A.S.M Anas Ferdous

Student, Department Of Biomedical Engineering

Bangladesh Univeristy Of Engineering & Technology

Edition-

First Edition-November 2019

Copyright-

All Rights Reserved By Writer

Publisher-

Himachal Publication

Bishal Book Complex

Banglabazar, Dhaka

Price-150 Tk

Dedicated To

Father Of The Nation

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Preface

Ecology and Environmental Science is two complexes, modern and new subjects. These two subjects are directly and indirectly related and also related with the Limnology. Terminology helps to understand a subject clearly and easily. If one wishes to study and easy understand any subject it is very necessary to know the basic term of that subject. But terminological book of these subjects even text books are limited in our country and even in the foreign countries. Glossary terms are also absent in most text book, even inadequate in the internet. Thinking on the above, this book is written. The terms are collected from different Encyclopedia, Scientific dictionary, different text books, internet etc. and have been carefully complied and edited. Each entry in this book has been defined with the utmost correctness, completeness, and reasonable style. Some terms are explained quite briefly, other at some length. Bold headwords provide quick and easy access to 2136 terms (50046 words). Besides these the Ecology and Environmental science; this book will also provide information to the students and professionals person of Biodiversity, Limnology, Crop science, and Meteorology, Biology and Agriculture at all levels with a handy, and reliable source and may achieves its purpose.

A

Abiotic: Nonliving components of an ecosystem including soil, water, air, light, nutrients and the like.

Abundance: The total number of individuals, or biomass of a specie present in a specified area.

Abyssal zone: A zone of the ocean depths between 4,000 to 6,000 m; in other words it is the layer from 4000 to 6000 m depth of the oceans.

Abyssal: Relating to the bottom waters of oceans usually below 1000 m.

Accelerated erosion: Loss of soil due to wind or water in land.

Accelerated extinction: Elimination of species due to human activities such as habitat destruction,

commercial hunting, sport hunting and pollution.

Accidental species: The species that occur with a low degree of fidelity in a community type.

Acclimate: To change phenotypically in a new environment. An individual acclimates and adaptation occurs over many generations.

Acclimation: Physiological adjustment to change or other capacity to perform a function in a particular environmental factor, such as temperature or salinity.

Acclimatization: Changes or differences in a physiological state that appear after exposure to different natural environments.

Acid mine drainage: Sulfuric acid that drains from mines, especially abandoned underground coal mines in the East (Appalachia). This sulfuric acid is created by the chemical reaction between oxygen, water and iron sulfides in coal and surrounding rocks.

Acid rain (Acid precipitation):: Precipitation (rain or snow) with an extremely low PH; brought about by a combination of water vapor in the atmosphere with hydrogen sulfide and nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel and interact with water vapor to produce dilute sulfuric and nitric acid.

Active solar: Capturing and storage of the sun’s energy through special collection devices (solar panels) that absorb heat and transfer it to air, water, or some other medium, which is then pumped to a storage site (usually a water tank) for later use.

Active temperature range: Range of body temperatures over which ectotherms carry out their daily activities.

Active transport: Movement of ions and molecules across a cell membrane against a concentration gradient involving an expenditure of energy. In other words it is a movement of the ion or molecule is in a direction opposite to direction taken under simple diffusion.

Actual evapotranspiration (AET): The amount of water lost from an ecosystem to the atmosphere due to a combination of evaporation by plants.

Actual risk: An accurate measure of the hazard created by a certain technology or action.

Acute effects: In general the effect that occur shortly after exposure to toxic agents. Its opposite phrase is chronic effect.

Acute toxicity: A toxicity in which a single exposure (dose) or ingestion is poisonous to an animal; and poisoning generally caused by short-term exposure to high levels of one or more agents. Symptoms appear soon after exposure.

Adaptation: Evolutionary change that makes an organism functions (behavioral, morphological, and physiological) better in a given environment, which improves an organism's ability to survive and successfully reproduce under prevailing environment conditions. The term is also applied to the anatomical, physiological, or behavioral characteristics produced by this process.

Adaptive- It is a radiation from a common ancestor. In other words it is an evolution of divergent forms adapted to distinct ways of life.

Adaptive radiation: Evolutionary diversification of species derived from a common ancestor into a variety of ecological roles.

Adaptive zone: A particular type of environment requiring unique adaptation. Species in different adaptive zones usually differ by major morphological or physiological characteristics.

Additive genetic variance: The degree of phenotypic variation in the population caused by genetic variation, which provided that the heterozygote has a phenotype intermediate between those of the two homozygotes.

Adhesion-adapted: A term applied to seeds with hooks, spines, or barbs that disperse by attaching to passing animals.

Adiabatic lapse rate: Cooling of rising air without external source of energy for expansion.

Advanced industrial society: Post-World war II industrial society characterized by great rises is

production and consumption, increased energy demand, and a shift toward synthesis and

nonrenewable resources.

Aeolian: Related to wind; produced or blown by the wind.

Aerobic: Living or occurring only in the presence of free uncombined molecular oxygen, either as a gas in the atmosphere or dissolved in water.

Aestivation: Dormancy in animals through a drought or a dry season.

Age distribution: The ratio or distribution of individuals among each age group (prereproductive, reproductive, and post reproductive) in a population; often called age structure. The age distribution of a population reflects its history of survival, reproduction, and potential for future growth. Population ecologists can tell a great deal about a population just by studying its age distribution. Age distribution indicates periods of successful reproduction, periods of high and low survival, and whether the older individuals in a population are replacing themselves or if the population is declining.

Age of fossils: Age of fossils is determined by determining the age of rocks. Rocks have been found to contain certain radioactive elements, which loss their radioactivities and change to other non-radioactive isotopes at a fixed rate for a definite time.

Agents synthetic theory of evolution: Agents synthetic theory of evolution are- i) Natural selection ii) Hybridization or migration or gene flow iii) Mutation iv) Genetic drift (drift) or pure chance and v) Recombination.

Age-specific fertility rate: Number of live births per 1000 women of a specific age group.

Aggrading: Gradually increasing in structure or biomass.

Aggregate dispersion: Distribution of individuals in a clumped or aggregate pattern of dispersion (such as herds, coveys, or schools)

Aggregative response: Reaction in which consumers spend most of the time in foods patches with the greatest density of prey.

Aggressive mimicry: Resemblance of a predator or parasite to a harmless species to in order not to alert potential prey or hosts.

Agricultural land conversion: Transformation of farmland to other purposes such as highways, airports, and the like.

Agricultural society: A group of people living in villages or towns and relying on domestic animals and crops grown in nearby fields. It is characterized by specialization of works roles.

Agro ecosystem Pest Management (AIM): In broad meaning IPM is concern with the control of all pest

of a crop, not only insect but also mites, nematodes, rodents, birds and other vertebrate, plant diseases,

and weeds. It is still substitutes of the grower’s culture of the crops. The multitude of decisions a grower

must make in successfully raising of a crop has been designated “Agro Ecosystem Pest Management”.

Agrotis tenuis: Experiments have shown that the grass, Agrotis plants growing on the polluted soils (lead mine soil) are resistant to heavy metal poisoning (1% Lead and 0.3% Zinc). On the other hand, other Agrotis plants growing in an unpolluted habitat (normal soil) have no such resistance. Hybridization between tolerant and non-tolerant population of Agrotis plant produces fertile offsprings. So, it is not a new species, as it is not reproductively isolated. Raven et al. (1980) confirmed that resistant to heavy metal poisoning Agrotis plant and nonresistant Agrotis plant are races only.

A-horizon: Soil layer consisting of a mixture of mineral materials, such as clay, silt, and sand. It is characterized by maximum accumulation of organic matter and biological activity.

Albedo: Percentage of light reflected by an object as in the extent the Earth's surface reflects solar energy.

Alfisol: Soil characterized by an accumulation of iron and aluminum in lower or B- horizon. In other words it is a gray-brown podzolic soil of temperature latitudes.

Algal bloom: Rapid growth of algae in surface water due to increase in inorganic nutrients either

nitrogen or phosphorus.

Alien species (or foreign species): Any species introduced into or living in a new habitat. It is also

known as an exotic species.

Alkaloids: Bitter, nitrogen containing compounds that tend to be poisonous to animals and are important defensive chemicals in many plants. They include caffeine, nicotine, morphine, and strychnine.

Allee effect: Positive density dependence, usually found only when the population size becomes quite low.

Allee principle of aggregation: A special type of density dependence, first identified by W.C Allee in 1931, in which a degree of aggregation results in optimum population growth and survival.

Allele frequency: Commonness of an allele (or a gene) in a population of organism.

Allele: One of several alternative forms of a gene.

Allelochemics: Study of use of chemical agents by organisms to influence other organisms, most particularly as defenses or as lures.

Allelopathy: Direct inhibition of one plant species by another, using noxious or toxic compounds

Allen's rule: Trend among homoiotherms forelimbs to become longer, and extremity (such as ears) to become less compact, in warmer climates than in colder ones.

Allergen: Substance that producing a pathogenic sensitivity within an organism.

Allochthonous: Refers to organic materials not generated within the community or ecosystem.

Allochthonous food material is reaching an aquatic community in the form of organic detritus.

Allogenic succession: Successional changes that are largely the result of external forces, such as fire, flooding or storms.

Allometric equation: Equation of the form y=axb.

Allopatric speciation: Speciation from a common ancestor into distinct species resulting from the geographical distribution (different areas) of populations sufficient to prevent cross breeding between them. For example polar bears and lions are allopartic.

Allopatric: Description of the condition in which populations or species have non-overlapping geographic ranges.

Allopolyploidy: Increase in the number of chromosomes sets in a fertilized egg, which receives two unlike sets of chromosomes.

Allozyme: Alternative form of a particular enzyme, which differs structurally but not functionally from other allozymes coded for by the different alleles at the same locus.

Alluvial soils: Soils that have been deposited by running water.

Alpha (α) Diversity: It refers to the variety of species within a region and measure on the basis of number of species in a region.

Alpha particles: Positively charged particles consisting of two protons and two neutrons, emitted from radioactive nuclei.

Alpine tundra: Tundra-like conditions found above the tree lines on the high mountains

Alpine: Mountainous.

Altricial condition: Among birds and mammals of being hatched or born usually blind and too weak to support their own weight.

Altricial: Has naked or helpless offspring.

Altruism: Altruism means the risking of loss of fitness in an act that will improve the fitness of another individual. It is the sacrifice of one’s own well-being for the benefit of another. In genetic terms, it contributes to the genetic fitness of another while decreasing it’s own fitness. Altruism is completely opposite to the Darwinian theory; as natural selection distinguishes against any animal that feeds or cares for another without reward.

Alual: structure in birds consisting of a few feathers on the ‘thumb’ which forms a leading-edge slot that helps to maintain smooth air flow and allows flight at slow speeds.

Alveoli: Small sacs in the lungs where exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between air and blood

occurs.

Ambient air quality standard: Maximum permissible concentration of a pollutant in the air around

us. Contrast with emissions standard.

Ambient: Existing conditions; encompassing on all sides.

Amensalism: Relationship between two species in which one is inhibited or harmed by the presence of another but the other are not affected.

American jacana: Jacanas (Jacana spinosa) are Pantropical; moorhen like bird that have long toes and are able to walk on floating lily leaves. Several species of jacanas are polyandrous, which is a rare condition in bird that makes jacanas of special interest in the behavioral ecology.

Amino acid sequences: The linear arrangement of amino acids in a protein.

Amino acid: Small organic molecules containing an-NH2 group and a -COOH group; some 20 different kinds serve as ‘building blocks’ of protein molecules. In the process of making a protein, amino acids hook together chemically, producing a string of amino acids.

Ammonite: An extinct relative of the octopus with a flat, spiral shell.

Anabolism: Metabolic reactions usually requiring energy provided by ATP in which molecules are linked together to form more complex compounds.

Anadromous: Animals that migrate from sea to fresh water are called canadromous. Some marine fishes migrate from sea to river for spawning (breed) in fresh-water, such as salmon -Hilsa hilsa.

Anaerobic: Adapted of an organism to environmental conditions in the absence of free oxygen.

Androgen: A sex hormone responsible for the development of male secondary sexual characteristics such as body hair and a deep voice.

Androgenital syndrome: Production of too much androgen by a female fetus.

Anemophilous or Anemophily: Wind pollinated.

Aneuploidy: Aneuploidy deviate from a base number by one, two or a few chromosomes such as monosomy (2n-1), nulliosomy (2n-2), triosomy (2n+1), and tetrasomy (2n + 2) and so on.

Angelfish: A crescent-shaped cichlid fish (freshwater) of the genus Pterophyllum either P. scalare or P. eimekei, which are commonly kept in home aquariums. It also includes the poster-colored saltwater fishes of the family Chaetodontidae and the subfamily Pomacanthinae.

Angle of attack: Angle at which birds intercept air flow or relative wind with their wings in order to generate lift.

Annuals: Plants that grow from seed- for example, domestic corn and radishes.

Anoles: Members of the lizard genus Anolis

Anolis: A genus of about 300 species lizard; they are the principal ground- feeding, insectivorous vertebrates. They found primarily in South America and in the Caribbean Island.

Anopheles: The genus of mosquitoes that carries malaria.

Antagonism: In toxicology, when two chemical or physical agents (often toxins) counteract each other to produce a lesser response than would be expected if individual effects were added together.

Antagonistic behavior: All types of unfriendly response to other organisms ranging from clear attack to clear escape.

Anthropocentric: It focuses on human values; considering humanity to be the standard or frame of reference.

Anthropogenic or Anthropogenic hazard: A danger created by humans.

Anthrosol: Human-created urban soil type, containing an abundance of pulverized concrete, dust, debris, and fill materials

Antibiotic: Substance produced by a living organism, which is toxic to organisms of different species.

Apatosaurus: A giant herbivorous dinosaur, more commonly known as Brontosaurus.

Aposematic: Being conspicuous and serving to warn-for example, when toxic animals advertise their poisonousness by aposematic black and red coloration.

Aposematism: Possession of warning coloration; conspicuous markings on animals which are poisonous, distasteful, or possess some unpleasant defensive mechanism.

Apostalic selection: Selective predation on the most abundant forms in a population, regardless of their appearance, leading to balanced polymorphism, the stable occurrence of more than one form in a population.

Applied ecology: The subject in which ecological theory, principles, and concepts are applied to resource management is known as applied ecology.

Aquaculture: Cultivation of fish and other aquatic organisms in freshwater ponds, lakes, irrigation ditches and other bodies of water.

Aquifer porous: Underground strata (limestone, sand, or grave) bounded by impervious rock or clay, containing significant quantities of water.

Aquifer recharge zone: Region in which water from rain or snow percolates into an aquifer,

replenishing the supply of groundwater.

Aquifer: Underground stratum of porous material (sandstone) containing water (ground water), which

may be withdrawn from wells for human use.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF): Mycorrhizae in which the mycorrhizal fungus produces arbuscules (sites of exchange between plant and fungus), hyphae (fungal filaments), and vesicles (fungal energy storage organs within root cortex cells).

Arbuscule: A bush-shaped organ on an endomycorrhizal fungus that acts as a site of material exchange between the fungus and its host plant.

Arena: Alternative term for elk.

Argillic horizon: A subsoil characterized by an accumulation of clays.

Aril: A fleshy covering of some seeds that attracts birds and other vertebrates, which act as dispersers of such seeds.

Arms race: Retaliatory relationship between species over evolutionary time.

Arthropods: The animal phylum comprised of crustaceans, spiders, mites, centipedes, insects and related forms. It is the largest phyla, containing more than three times the number of all other animal phyla combined.

Artificial selection: Selection in which a plant or animal breeder creates a differential reproduction of genotypes by choosing the parents of each generation.

Artiodactyla: Mammalian herbivores with hooves and an even number of toes, such as antelopes and deer.

Asbestos: One of several naturally occurring silicate fibers. Useful in society as an insulator but deadly to breathe even in small amounts. Causes mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.

Asbestosis: Lung disease characterized by buildup of scar tissue in the lungs. Caused by inhalation of asbestos.

Ascendancy: The tendency for self-organizing, dissipative systems to develop network flows over time.

Asexual reproduction: Any form of reproduction, not involving the fusion of gametes, such as budding.

Aspect diversity: Variations in the outward appearance of species that live in the same habitat and are eaten by visually hunting predators.

Assimilation efficiency: The fraction of light striking plants that actually is used in photosynthesis or the fraction of energy consumed (e.g., ingested) by animals that actually is absorbed from the food.

Assimilation: Transformation or incorporation of a substance by organisms; for animals, absorption of food energy from the gut; for plants the uptake of carbon dioxide.

Association analysis: Investigation for the extent to which species co-occur

Association: Natural unit of vegetation often characterized by a relatively uniform species composition and often dominated by a particular species.

Asthma: Lung disorder characterized by constriction and excessive mucus production in the bronchioles, resulting in periodic difficulty in breathing shortness of breath coughing. Usually it is caused by allergy and often aggravated by air pollution. Atmosphere: Layer of air surrounding the earth.

Atoll: A circular or semicircular group of low islands and coral reefs encircling a lagoon, generally formed on a submerged mountain called a seamount.

Atom: A basic unit of matter consisting of a nucleus of positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons, and an outer cloud of electrons orbiting the nucleus.

ATP: Adenosine triphosphate, a phosphorus containing compound that is the ‘energy currency’ of all organisms.

Aufwuchs (or periphyton): Community of plants and animals attached to or moving about on submerged surfaces also frequently called periphyton. But the term is more specifically applied to organism that attached to submerged plant stems and leaves.

Australopithicines: Upright, small brained relatives of modern human beings of the genus Australopithecus that lived roughly 1-4 million years ago.

Autecology: Ecology of individual species in response to environmental conditions.

Autochthonous: Refers to photosynthesis or organic matter generated within the community or ecosystem.

Autogenic succession: Successinal changes largely determined by internal self generated interactions.

Automimicry: Phenomenon by which a set of different individuals of the same species mimic each other.

Autotroph: An organism that can synthesize organic molecules using inorganic molecules and energy from either sunlight (photosynthetic autotrophs) or from inorganic molecules, such as hydrogen sulfide (chemosynthetic autotrophs).

Autotrophic succession: Succession beginning when p/r>1.

Autotrophic: Producing of its own food by an organism (as photosynthetic plants) and production is greater than respiration.

Autotrophy: Ability of an organism to produce organic material from inorganic chemicals and some source of energy.

Auxins: Plant hormones responsible for stimulating growth.

Available water: Capacity of supply of water that are available to plants in a well-drained soil.

Average fitness of a population (r): The average fitness of the genotypes in a population weighted by their frequencies.

B

B –horizon: A subsoil in which materials leached from above, generally from the A horizon accumulate.

This horizon may be rich in clay, organic matter, iron, and other materials.

Balanced growth: Cell growth in which all cell constituents, such as nitrogen, carbon, and DNA, increase at approximately the same rate.

Balanced polymorphism: Maintenance of more than one allele in a population by the selective

superiority of the heterozygote over both types of homozygous.

Barren: An area with sparse vegetation owing to some physical or chemical property of the soil.

Barrier islands: Small, sandy islands off a coast separated from the mainland by lagoons or bays.

Barrier reef: A long ridge like reef that parallels to the mainland and is separated from it by a deep lagoon.

Basal metabolism: The energy expenditures of an organism that is at rest, fasting, and in a thermally neutral environment.

Batesian mimicry: Mimicry of a dangerous (noxious) or distasteful species by a harmless or tasty one.

Bathyal: Pertaining to anything, but especially organisms in the deep sea (below the photic or lighted zone and above 4000 m.

Bathypelagic zone: A zone within the deep ocean that extends from about 1,000 to 4,000 m.

Beach drift: Wave-caused movement of sand along a beach.

Behavioral ecology: Study of the relationships between organisms and environment that focuses on the behavior of organisms in their natural habitat.

Benthic zone: Lowermost region or bottom of a freshwater lake or aquatic ecosystem.

Benthic: Living habitats on the bottom of the ocean, and other aquatic environment such as seas, lakes, or streams, are referred to as benthic.

Benthos: Animals and plants that live on the bottom of a lake, a river or the sea.

Berman's rule: Populations of homoiotherms living in cooler climates tend to have a larger body size and a smaller surface to volume ratio than related populations living in warmer climates.

Beta diversity: Variety of organisms occupying a number of different habitats over a period.

Beta particles: Negatively charged particles emitted from nuclei of radioactive elements when a

neutron is converted to a proton.

Bet-hedging: Evolutionary strategy in which an individual adopts two alternative tactics so as to

maximize the probability of survival or reproduction.

B-horizon: A stratum of soil characterized by minerals in which organic matter in the A-horizon

has been converted by decomposers into inorganic compounds such as silica and clay.

Biennial: Plant that requires two years to complete a life cycle with vegetative growth the first year and reproductive growth (flowers and seeds) the second year.

Big Bang: Theory of the universe’s formation which states that all matter in the universe was infinitely compressed 15 to 20 billion years ago and then exploded, sending energy and matter out into space. The matter was in the form of subatomic particles, which formed atoms as the universe cooled over millions of years.

Bioassay: It means the assessment or primary test of toxic substance on living organism in the control condition (in the laboratory).

Biocide: Any chemical that kills living organisms.