Environmental Studies

Key Words, Definitions and Procedures for Chapters; 1,2,3,4,5,6

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  • Created by: Jake
  • Created on: 02-12-11 15:32

Key Terms - C1 Living Conditions for Life on Earth

What is Physiological Function?

Any substence that is involved in chemical reactions in a living organism has a physiological function. 

What is a Greenhouse Gas?

A gas that absorbs infrared radiation and casues atmosperic heating.

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Key Terms - C1 - Conditions for Life on Earth

What is Specific Heat Capacity?

 The Measure of the amaount of heat energy needed to heat up a particular mass of a material through a particular temperature rise. e.g. water has a high specific heat capacity so it heats up and cools down slowly and has an important role in moderating climatic functions.

What are Ambient Gases?

The surrounding environmental gases that are avaliable to organisms.

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Key Terms - C1 Conditions for Life on Earth

What is the Lithosphere?

The relitively hard outer layer of the earth, consisting of the crust and the upper layer of the mantle.

What is the Atmosphere?

The gases surrounding the earth. Different layers are characterized by their temperature, density, turbulence and composition.  

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Key Terms - C1 Conditions for Life on Earth

What is the Hydroshpere?

The Hydrosphere is all the water on earth, found in solid, liquid or gaseous form in a variety of resourviours, including the oceans, ice caps, rivers and lakes, soil, groundwater, atmopsphere and living organsims.

What is Photolysis?

The splitting of molecules by light, including the splitting of water molecules in the early atmosphere, producing oxygen.

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Key Terms - C1 Conditions for Life on Earth

What is the Biosphere?

 All the living organisms on earth.

What is Transpiration?

Transpiration is the loss of water by evaporation from the stomata of leaves.

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Key Terms - C2 Wildlife Conservation

What is Biometics?

The study of living organisms so the knowledge can be applied to engineering or techniological developments.

What is Teratology?

The study of the causes of bith defects.

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Key Terms - C2 Wildlife Conservation

What is a Gene Pool?

The total variety of different genes in all the memebers of a population.

What is the Vavilov Centre?

An area aroun the world, identified by the russion zoologist Nikolai Vavilov, where crop plants were first demesticated and where wild varietes are still formed.

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Key Terms - C2 Wildlife Conservation

What are Indigenous Species?

Species that are native to the area.

What is CITES?

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

What is a Niche?

A niche of species is the role it plays in its habitat, which includes how it makes puse of resources and responds to other species in its habitat.

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Key Terms - C2 Wildlife Conservation

What are Endemic Species?

An endemic species is indigenious species to a particular area and is not naturally found elswhere.

What does the Wildlife and Countryside Act legislate?

a UK Act of Parliament that provides the protection for many wildlife species and designated protected areas.

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