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Biodiversity
The number and variety of organisms in an ecosystem or area
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Protect
- To legally prevent human intervention in an area or ecosystem
- e.g. most national parks are protected
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Biodiversity hotspot
- A place where biodiversity is especially high
- e.g. tropical rainforests
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Community
A group of populations within an ecosystem
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Dominant species
- The species in a community with the highest biomass
- e.g. kelp
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Keystone species
- A species with low biomass but a large impact on the environment
- e.g. otters
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Captive breeding
Breeding a species in captivity to boost its wild population after releasing it
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Ecosystem engineer
- A species which creates drastic changes to its environment
- e.g. beavers
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Succession
- A series of changes over time
- e.g. if a habitat was destroyed and its species died, restoring it would eventually cause those species to return
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Habitat loss
- When a species’ habitat is destroyed or rendered unlivable
- e.g. wetland draining
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Deforestation
- When a forest is cut and the trees are not replanted
- e.g. many parts of the amazon rainforest are suffering from deforestation due to agriculture
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Alien species
- A species which is introduced to an area which it is not native to
- e.g. zebra mussels in the great lakes
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Invasive species
- An alien species which is detrimental to its new environment
- e.g. cane toads
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Overexploitation
- When a resource is used until it is depleted
- e.g. Atlantic Cod
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Extinction
- When all members of a species are dead, the species is extinct
- e.g. dinosaurs are extinct
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Biodiversity crisis
Many species are currently facing extinction, causing a biodiversity crisis
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Restoration ecology
- The process of repairing a destroyed or damaged habitat
- e.g. reforestation
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Reforestation
- Planting trees to restore a habitat
- e.g. in the 1990’s, red pine forests were replanted to prevent species extinction
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Biocontrol
- When one organism is imported to regulate another’s population. Fails more often than not
- e.g. parasite flies and gypsy moths
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Bioremediation
Using plants to extract heavy metals and toxins from the soil
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Bioaugmentation
- Using plants to add essential nutrients back into the soil
- e.g. planting clover to add nitrogen
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