Glossary of Ecology - E

E

  • ecology - The study of interactions between organisms and their environment
  • ecological literacy - is the ability to understand the natural systems that make life on earth possible
  • ecological selection - ecological processes that operate on a species' inherited traits without reference to mating or secondary sex characteristic.
  • Ecological succession - a focus on the understanding that directs vegetation change
  • ecophagy - the consuming of an ecosystem
  • Ecophysiology - which studies the interaction of physiological traits with the abiotic environment
  • ecopoiesis - fabrication of a sustainable ecosystem on a currently lifeless, sterile planet
  • ecoregion - a region defined by its geography and ecology
  • ecosynthesis - the use of introduced species to fill niches in a disrupted environment with the aim of increasing the speed of ecological restoration.
  • ecosystem - the total of interacting organisms (biocoenosis) and non-living things (biotope) in a specific environment
  • Ecosystem ecology - which studies how flows of energy and matter interact with biotic elements of ecosystems
  • Ecosystem function
  • ecosystem modeling - The use of math, computer programs and models to foreshadow unanticipated problems of the ecosystem
  • Ecosystem services - resources and processes that are supplied in a natural ecosystem that benefits organisms.
  • ecotone - a transition area between two adjacent but different landscape patches
  • ecotoxicology - looks at the ecological role of toxic chemicals (often pollutants, but also naturally occurring compounds)
  • el Nino - short period of change in the Pacific Ocean's climate around Equator.
  • ecozone - an area that has characteristics of natural origin such as climate, terrain, vegetation, etc. It is also the largest division of the Earth's surface filled with living organisms.
  • endangered species - a species that contains numbers so low that it risks becoming extinct
  • energy pyramid - Shows the flow of energy through a pyramid
  • environmental restoration - repairing damages to an area caused by humans, natural disasters or industry.
  • ethology - the study of animal behavior as behavioral ecology, a branch of zoology.
  • eutrophication - an increase in chemical nutrients in the ecosystem. It may occur on land or in water. This increase of chemicals usually causes an increase or decrease of plant growth.
  • evaporation - is the slow vaporization of water from either the soil or surface water.
  • evolutionary ecology - (or ecoevolution) the evolutionary changes in the context of the populations and communities in which the organisms exist
  • exotic species - introduced species not native or endemic to a habitat
  • extinction - when organisms completely die off and there are no more of that organism left.
  • exponential growth - is the growth of a population that is consistent
  • emigration - leaving ones native region to go to another
  • estuary - a body of water on the coast attached to the ocean and rivers or streams that often give it a black color as a result of silt and sediment.

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