William P. Cunningham,
University of Minnesota
Mary Ann Cunningham,
Vassar College
| acid precipitation | Acidic rain, snow, or dry particles deposited from the air due to increased acids released by anthropogenic or natural resources.
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| acids | Substances that release hydrogen atoms in water.
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| active solar system | A mechanical system that uses moving substances to collect and transfer solar energy.
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| acute effects | A sudden onset of symptoms or effects of exposure to some factor.
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| acute poverty | Insufficient income or access to resources needed to provide the basic necessities for life such as food, shelter, sanitation, clean water, medical care, and education.
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| adaptive management | A management plan designed from the outset to "learn by doing," and to actively test hypotheses and adjust treatments as new information becomes available.
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| administrative law | Executive orders, administrative rules and regulations, and enforcement decisions by administrative agencies and special administrative courts.
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| aerosols | Minute particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air.
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| agency rule-making | The formal process of establishing rules and standards by administrative agencies.
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| albedo | A description of a surface's reflective properties.
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| allergens | Substances that activate the immune system and cause an allergic response; may not be directly antigenic themselves but may make other materials antigenic.
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| ambient air | The air immediately around us.
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| analytical thinking | A way of systematic analysis that asks, "How can I break this problem down into its constituent parts?"
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| anemia | Low levels of hemoglobin due to iron deficiency or lack of red blood cells.
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| anthropocentric | Believing that humans hold a special place in nature; being centered primarily on humans and human affairs.
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| antigens | Substances that stimulate the production of, and react with, specific antibodies.
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| aquifers | Porous, water-bearing layers of sand, gravel, and rock below the earth's surface; reservoirs for groundwater.
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| arbitration | A formal process of dispute resolution in which there are stringent rules of evidence, cross-examination of witnesses, and a legally binding decision made by the arbitrator that all parties must obey.
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| arithmetic growth | A pattern of growth that increases at a constant amount per unit time, such as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 1, 3, 5, 7.
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| atmospheric deposition | Sedimentation of solids, liquids, or gaseous materials from the air.
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| atom | The smallest unit of matter that has the characteristics of an element; consists of three main types of subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
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| atomic number | The characteristic number of protons per atom of an element.
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| autotroph | An organism that synthesizes food molecules from inorganic molecules by using an external energy source, such as light energy.
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| barrier islands | Low, narrow, sandy islands that form offshore from a coastline.
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| bases | Substances that readily bond with hydrogen ions in an aqueous solution.
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| Batesian mimicry | Evolution by one species to resemble the coloration, body shape, or behavior of another species that is protected from predators by a venomous stinger, bad taste, or some other defensive adaptation.
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| benthos | The bottom of a sea or lake.
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| bioaccumulation | The selective absorption and concentration of molecules by cells.
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| biocentrism | The belief that all creatures have rights and values; being centered on nature rather than humans.
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| biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) | A standard test for measuring the amount of dissolved oxygen utilized by aquatic microorganisms.
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| biodegradable plastics | Plastics that can be decomposed by microorganisms.
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| biodiversity | The genetic, species, and ecological diversity of the organisms in a given area.
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| biogeochemical cycles | Movement of matter within or between ecosystems; caused by living organisms, geological forces, or chemical reactions. The cycling of nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, oxygen, phosphorus, and water are examples.
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| biogeographical area | A region or ecosystem with characteristic biological, water, and land resources.
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| biological community | The populations of plants, animals, and microorganisms living and interacting in a certain area at a given time.
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| biological controls | Use of natural predators, pathogens, or competitors to regulate pest populations.
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| biomagnification | Increase in concentration of certain stable chemicals (for example, heavy metals or fat-soluble pesticides) in successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or web.
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| biomass | The total mass or weight of all the living organisms in a given population or area.
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| biomass fuel | Organic material produced by plants, animals, or microorganisms that can be burned directly as a heat source or converted into a gaseous or liquid fuel.
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| biomass pyramid | A metaphor or diagram that explains the relationship between the amounts of biomass at different trophic levels.
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| biome | A broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate and soil conditions and a distinctive kind of biological community adapted to those conditions.
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| bioremediation | Use of biological organisms to remove pollution or restore environmental quality.
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| biosphere | The zone of air, land, and water at the surface of the earth that is occupied by organisms.
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| biosphere reserves | World heritage sites identified by the IUCN as worthy for national park or wildlife refuge status because of high biological diversity or unique ecological features.
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| biota | All organisms in a given area.
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| biotic potential | The maximum reproductive rate of an organism, given unlimited resources and ideal environmental conditions. Compare with environmental resistance.
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| birth control | Any method used to reduce births, including celibacy, delayed marriage, contraception; devices or medication that prevent implantation of fertilized zygotes, and induced abortions.
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| bog | An area of waterlogged soil that tends to be peaty; fed mainly by precipitation; low productivity; some bogs are acidic.
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| boreal forest | A broad band of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees that stretches across northern North America (and also Europe and Asia); its northernmost edge, the taiga, intergrades with the arctic tundra.
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| brownfields | Abandoned or underused urban areas in which redevelopment is blocked by liability or financing issues related to toxic contamination.
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| cancer | Invasive, out-of-control cell growth that results in malignant tumors.
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| capital | Any form of wealth, resources, or knowledge available for use in the production of more wealth.
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| carbohydrate | An organic compound consisting of a ring or chain of carbon atoms with hydrogen and oxygen attached; examples are sugars, starches, cellulose, and glycogen.
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| carbon cycle | The circulation and reutilization of carbon atoms, especially via the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.
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| carbon monoxide (CO) | Colorless, odorless, nonirritating but highly toxic gas produced by incomplete combustion of fuel, incineration of biomass or solid waste, or partially anaerobic decomposition of organic material.
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| carbon sink | Places of carbon accumulation, such as in large forests (organic compounds) or ocean sediments (calcium carbonate); carbon is thus removed from the carbon cycle for moderately long to very long periods of time.
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| carcinogens | Substances that cause cancer.
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| carnivores | Organisms that mainly prey upon animals.
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| carrying capacity | The maximum number of individuals of any species that can be supported by a particular ecosystem on a long-term basis.
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| case law | Precedents from both civil and criminal court cases.
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| cellular respiration | The process in which a cell breaks down sugar or other organic compounds to release energy used for cellular work; may be anaerobic or aerobic, depending on the availability of oxygen.
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| chain reaction | A self-sustaining reaction in which the fission of nuclei produces subatomic particles that cause the fission of other nuclei.
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| chaparral | A biological community characterized by thick growth of thorny, evergreen shrubs typical of a Mediterranean climate.
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| chemical bond | The force that holds molecules together.
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| chemical energy | Potential energy stored in chemical bonds of molecules.
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| Chipko Andolan movement | A group of village women in India who mobilized to save the forest on which their livelihoods depended. The name means to hug trees to protect them.
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| chlorofluorocarbons | Chemical compounds with a carbon skeleton and one or more attached chlorine and fluorine atoms. Commonly used as refrigerants, solvents, fire retardants, and blowing agents.
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| chloroplasts | Chlorophyll-containing organelles in eukaryotic organisms; sites of photosynthesis.
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| chronic effects | Long-lasting results of exposure to a toxin; can be a permanent change caused by a single, acute exposure or a continuous, low-level exposure.
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| citizen science | Projects in which trained volunteers work with scientific researchers to answer real-world questions.
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| city | A differentiated community with a sufficient population and resource base to allow residents to specialize in arts, crafts, services, and professional occupations.
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| civil law | A body of laws regulating relations between individuals or between individuals and corporations concerning property rights, personal dignity and freedom, and personal injury.
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| classical economics | Modern, western economic theories of the effects of resource scarcity, monetary policy, and competition on supply and demand of goods and services in the marketplace. This is the basis for the capitalist market system.
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| clear-cutting | Cutting every tree in a given area, regardless of species or size; an appropriate harvest method for some species; can be destructive if not carefully controlled.
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| climate | A description of the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area.
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| climax community | A relatively stable, long-lasting community reached in a successional series; usually determined by climate and soil type.
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| closed-canopy | A forest where tree crowns spread over 20 percent of the ground; has the potential for commercial timber harvests.
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| cloud forests | High mountain forests where temperatures are uniformly cool and fog or mist keeps vegetation wet all the time.
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| coevolution | The process in which species exert selective pressure on each other and gradually evolve new features or behaviors as a result of those pressures.
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| cogeneration | The simultaneous production of electricity and steam or hot water in the same plant.
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| cold front | A moving boundary of cooler air displacing warmer air.
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| coliform bacteria | Bacteria that live in the intestines (including the colon) of humans and other animals; used as a measure of the presence of feces in water or soil.
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| commensalism | A symbiotic relationship in which one member is benefited and the second is neither harmed nor benefited.
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| common law | The body of court decisions that constitute a working definition of individual rights and responsibilities where no formal statutes define these issues.
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| communal resource management systems | Resources managed by a community for long-term sustainability.
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| community ecology | The study of interactions of all populations living in the ecosystem of a given area.
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| community-based planning | Involving community stake-holders in pluralistic, adaptive, inclusive, proactive planning.
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| competitive exclusion | A theory that no two populations of different species will occupy the same niche and compete for exactly the same resources in the same habitat for very long; disputed by some ecologists who see biological communities as highly individualistic and variable.
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| complexity (ecological) | The number of species at each trophic level and the number of trophic levels in a community.
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| composting | The biological degradation of organic material under aerobic (oxygen-rich) conditions to produce compost, a nutrient-rich soil amendment and conditioner.
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| compound | A molecule made up of two or more kinds of atoms held together by chemical bonds.
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| conifers | Needle-bearing trees that produce seeds in cones.
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| conservation of matter | In any chemical reaction, matter changes form; it is neither created nor destroyed.
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| conspicuous consumption | A term coined by economist and social critic Thorstein Veblen to describe buying things we don't want or need to impress others.
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| consumer | An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains. See also heterotroph.
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| consumption | The fraction of withdrawn water that is lost in transmission or that is evaporated, absorbed, chemically transformed, or otherwise made unavailable for other purposes as a result of human use.
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| contour plowing | Plowing along hill contours; reduces erosion.
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| control rods | Neutron-absorbing material inserted into spaces between fuel assemblies in nuclear reactors to regulate fission reaction.
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| convection currents | Rising or sinking air currents that stir the atmosphere and transport heat from one area to another. Convection currents also occur in water.
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| conventional (or criteria) pollutants | The seven substances (sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, photochemical oxidants, and lead) that make up the largest volume of air quality degradation; identified by the Clean Air Act as the most serious threat of all pollutants to human health and welfare; also called criteria pollutants.
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| convergent evolution | Species evolve from different origins but under similar environmental conditions to have similar traits.
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| coral reefs | Prominent oceanic features composed of hard, limy skeletons produced by coral animals; usually formed along edges of shallow, submerged ocean banks or along shelves in warm, shallow, tropical seas.
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| core | The dense, intensely hot mass of molten metal, mostly iron and nickel, thousands of kilometers in diameter at the earth's center.
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| Coriolis effect | The tendency for air above the earth to appear to be deflected to the right (in the northern hemisphere) or the left (in the South) because of the earth's rotation.
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| corridor | A strip of natural habitat that connects two adjacent nature preserves to allow migration of organisms from one place to another.
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| cost-benefit analysis | An evaluation of large-scale public projects by comparing the costs and benefits that accrue from them.
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| cover crops | Plants, such as rye, alfalfa, or clover, that can be planted immediately after harvest to hold and protect the soil.
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| creative thinking | Original, independent thinking that asks, "How might I approach this problem in new and inventive ways?"
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| criminal law | A body of court decisions based on federal and state statutes concerning wrongs against persons or society.
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| criteria pollutants | See conventional pollutants.
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| critical factor | The single environmental factor closest to a tolerance limit for a given species at a given time. See limiting factors.
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| critical thinking | An ability to evaluate information and opinions in a systematic, purposeful, efficient manner.
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| crude birthrate | The number of births in a year divided by the midyear population.
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| crude death rate | The number of deaths per thousand persons in a given year; also called crude mortality rate.
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| crust | The cool, lightweight, outermost layer of the earth's surface that floats on the soft, pliable underlying layers; similar to the "skin" on a bowl of warm pudding.
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| cultural eutrophication | An increase in biological productivity and ecosystem succession caused by human activities.
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| debt-for-nature swap | Forgiveness of international debt in exchange for nature protection in developing countries.
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| deciduous | Trees and shrubs that shed their leaves at the end of the growing season.
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| decline spiral | A catastrophic deterioration of a species, community, or whole ecosystem; accelerates as functions are disrupted or lost in a downward cascade.
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| decomposers | Fungi and bacteria that break complex organic material into smaller molecules.
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| deductive reasoning | A series of logical steps that attempt to derive understanding of specific case from a general principle or law.
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| deep ecology | A philosophy that calls for a profound shift in our attitudes and behavior based on rejection of anthropocentric attitudes; a belief in the sacredness of nature; and direct personal action to protect nature.
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| delta | Fan-shaped sediment deposit found at the mouth of a river.
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| demanufacturing | Disassembly of products so components can be reused or recycled.
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| demographic transition | A pattern of falling death rates and birthrates in response to improved living conditions; could be reversed in deteriorating conditions.
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| demography | Vital statistics about people: births, marriages, deaths, etc.; the statistical study of human populations relating to growth rate, age structure, geographic distribution, etc., and their effects on social, economic, and environmental conditions.
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| dependency ratio | The number of nonworking members compared to working members for a given population.
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| desalinization (or desalination) | Removal of salt from water by distillation, freezing, or ultrafiltration.
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| desert | A type of biome characterized by low moisture levels and infrequent and unpredictable precipitation. Daily and seasonal temperatures fluctuate widely.
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| desertification | Denuding and degrading a once-fertile land, initiating a desert-producing cycle that feeds on itself and causes long-term changes in soil, climate, and biota of an area.
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| detritivore | Organisms that consume organic litter, debris, and dung.
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| dew point | The temperature at which condensation occurs for a given concentration of water vapor in the air.
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| dieback | A sudden population decline; also called a population crash.
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| disability adjusted life years (DALYs) | A health measure that assesses the total burden of disease by combining premature deaths and loss of a healthy life that result from illness or disability.
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| discharge | The amount of water that passes a fixed point in a given amount of time; usually expressed as liters or cubic feet of water per second.
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| discount rate | The amount we discount or reduce the value of a future payment. When you borrow money from the bank at 10 percent annual interest, you are in effect saying that having the money now is worth 10 percent more to you than having the same amount one year from now.
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| disease | A deleterious change in the body's condition in response to destabilizing factors, such as nutrition, chemicals, or biological agents.
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| dissolved oxygen (DO) content | Amount of oxygen dissolved in a given volume of water at a given temperature and atmospheric pressure; usually expressed in parts per million (ppm).
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| diversity (species diversity, biological diversity) | The number of species present in a community (species richness), as well as the relative abundance of each species.
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| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic acid; the long, double-helix molecule in the nucleus of cells that contains the genetic code and directs the development and functioning of all cells.
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| drip irrigation | Uses pipe or tubing perforated with very small holes to deliver water one drop at a time directly to the soil around each plant.
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| earth charter | A set of principles for sustainable development, environmental protection, and social justice developed by a council appointed by the United Nations.
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| earthquakes | Sudden, violent movement of the earth's crust.
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| ecocentric (ecologically centered) | A philosophy that claims moral values and rights for both organisms and ecological systems and processes.
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| ecofeminism | A pluralistic philosophy of respect for nature based on feminist philosophies of justice and egalitarianism.
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| ecological development | A gradual process of environmental modification by organisms.
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| ecological economics | Application of ecological insights to economic analysis; incorporating ecological principles and priorities into economic accounting systems.
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| ecological niche | The functional role and position of a species in its ecosystem, including what resources it uses, how and when it uses the resources, and how it interacts with other species.
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| ecological services | Processes or materials such as clean water, energy, climate regulation, and nutrient cycling provided by ecosystems.
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| ecological succession | The process by which organisms gradually occupy a site, alter its ecological conditions, and are eventually replaced by other organisms.
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| ecology | The scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment. It is concerned with the life histories, distribution, and behavior of individual species as well as the structure and function of natural systems at the level of populations, communities, and ecosystems.
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| economic development | A rise in real income per person; usually associated with new technology that increases productivity or resources.
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| economic growth | An increase in the total wealth of a nation; if population grows faster than the economy, there may be real economic growth, but the share per person may decline.
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| ecosystem | A specific biological community and its physical environment interacting in an exchange of matter and energy.
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| ecosystem management | An integration of ecological, economic, and social goals in a unified systems approach to resource management.
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| ecosystem restoration | To reinstate an entire community of organisms to as near its natural condition as possible.
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| ecotone | A boundary between two types of ecological communities.
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| ecotourism | A combination of adventure travel, cultural exploration, and nature appreciation in wild settings.
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| edge effects | A change in species composition, physical conditions, or other ecological factors at the boundary between two ecosystems.
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| El Niño | A climatic change marked by shifting of a large warm water pool from the western Pacific Ocean towards the east. Wind direction and precipitation patterns are changed over much of the Pacific and perhaps around the world.
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| electron | A negatively charged subatomic particle that orbits around the nucleus of an atom.
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| element | A substance that cannot be broken into simpler units by chemical means.
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| emergent disease | A new disease or one that has been absent for at least 20 years.
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| emigration | The movement of members from a population.
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| emission standards | Regulations for restricting the amounts of air pollutants that can be released from specific point sources.
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| endangered species | A species considered to be in imminent danger of extinction.
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| endemism | A state in which species are restricted to a single region.
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| energy | The capacity to do work (that is, to change the physical state or motion of an object).
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| energy recovery | Incineration of solid waste to produce useful energy.
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| environment | The circumstances or conditions that surround an organism or group of organisms as well as the complex of social or cultural conditions that affect an individual or community.
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| environmental ethics | A search for moral values and ethical principles in human relations with the natural world.
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| environmental hormones | Chemical pollutants that substitute for, or interfere with, naturally-occurring hormones in our bodies; these chemicals may trigger reproductive failure, developmental abnormalities, or tumor promotion.
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| environmental impact statement (EIS) | An analysis of the effects of any major program or project planned by a federal agency; required by provisions in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970.
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| environmental indicators | Organisms or physical factors that serve as a gauge for environmental changes. Indicator organisms, which cannot survive beyond certain environmental limits, are known as bioindicators.
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| environmental justice | Fair access to a clean, healthy environment, regardless of class, race, or income level, or other status.
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| environmental law | Legal rules, decisions, and actions concerning environmental quality, natural resources, and ecological sustainability.
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| environmental literacy | A basic understanding of ecological principles and the ways society affects, or responds to, environmental conditions.
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| environmental policy | The official rules or regulations concerning the environment adopted, implemented, and enforced by some governmental agency.
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| environmental racism | Decisions that unfairly expose people to polluted or degraded environments on the basis of race.
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| environmental resistance | All the limiting factors that tend to reduce population growth rates and set the maximum allowable population size or carrying capacity of an ecosystem.
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| environmental science | The systematic, scientific study of our environment as well as our role in it.
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| enzymes | Molecules, usually proteins or nucleic acids, that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions.
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| epidemiology | The study of the distribution and causes of disease and injuries in human populations.
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| epiphyte | A plant that grows on a substrate other than the soil, such as the surface of another organism.
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| equilibrium community | Also called a disclimax community; a community subject to periodic disruptions, usually by fire, that prevent it from reaching a climax stage.
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| estuary | A bay or drowned valley where a river empties into the sea.
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| eutrophic | Rivers and lakes rich in organic material (eu = well; trophic = nourished).
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| evolution | A theory that explains how random changes in genetic material and competition for scarce resources cause species to change gradually.
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| exhaustible resources | Materials present in fixed amounts in the environment, especially the earth's geologic endowment: minerals, nonmineral resources, fossil fuels.
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| exotic organisms | Alien species introduced by human agency into biological communities where they would not naturally occur.
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| exponential growth | Growth at a constant rate of increase per unit of time; can be expressed as a constant fraction or exponent. See geometric growth.
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| externalizing costs | Shifting expenses, monetary or otherwise, to someone other than the individuals or groups who use a resource.
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| extinction | The irrevocable elimination of species; can be a normal process of the natural world as species out-compete or kill off others or as environmental conditions change.
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| extirpate | To destroy totally; extinction caused by direct human action, such as hunting, trapping, etc.
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| family planning | Controlling reproduction; planning the timing of birth and having only as many babies as are wanted and can be supported.
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| famines | Acute food shortages characterized by large-scale loss of life, social disruption, and economic chaos.
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| fauna | All of the animals present in a given region.
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| fecundity | The physical ability to reproduce.
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| federal laws (statutes) | Laws passed by the federal legislature and signed by the chief executive.
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| fen | A wetland fed mainly by groundwater.
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| feral | A domestic animal that has taken up a wild existence.
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| fertility | The actual number of offspring produced through sexual reproduction; usually described in terms of number of offspring of females, since paternity can be difficult to determine.
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| fetal alcohol syndrome | A tragic set of permanent physical and mental and behavioral birth defects that result when mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy.
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| fire-climax community | An equilibrium community maintained by periodic fires; examples include grasslands, chaparral shrubland, and some pine forests.
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| first law of thermodynamics | States that energy is conserved; that is, it is neither created nor destroyed under normal conditions.
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| First World | The industrialized capitalist or market-economy countries of Western Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
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| flood | An overflow of water onto land that normally is dry.
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| floodplains | Low lands along riverbanks, lakes, and coastlines subjected to periodic inundation.
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| flora | All of the plants present in a given region.
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| food chain | A linked feeding series; in an ecosystem, the sequence of organisms through which energy and materials are transferred, in the form of food, from one trophic level to another.
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| food security | The ability of individuals to obtain sufficient food on a day-to-day basis.
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| food web | A complex, interlocking series of individual food chains in an ecosystem.
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| fossil fuels | Petroleum, natural gas, and coal created by geological forces from organic wastes and dead bodies of formerly living biological organisms.
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| fragmentation | Disruption of habitat into small, isolated fragments.
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| freshwater ecosystems | Ecosystems in which the fresh (nonsalty) water of streams, rivers, ponds, or lakes plays a defining role.
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| fuel assembly | A bundle of hollow metal rods containing uranium oxide pellets; used to fuel a nuclear reactor.
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| fuel cells | Mechanical devices that use hydrogen or hydrogen-containing fuel such as methane to produce an electric current. Fuel cells are clean, quiet and highly efficient sources of electricity.
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| fugitive emissions | Substances that enter the air without going through a smokestack, such as dust from soil erosion, strip mining, rock crushing, construction, and building demolition.
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| fungi | One of the five kingdom classifications; consists of nonphotosynthetic, eukaryotic organisms with cell walls, filamentous bodies, and absorptive nutrition.
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| fungicide | A chemical that kills fungi.
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| gamma rays | Very short wavelength forms of the electromagnetic spectrum.
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| gap analysis | A biogeographical technique of mapping biological diversity and endemic species to find gaps between protected areas that leave endangered habitats vulnerable to disruption.
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| gasohol | A mixture of gasoline and ethanol.
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| gene | A unit of heredity; a segment of DNA nucleus of the cell that contains information for the synthesis of a specific protein, such as an enzyme.
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| general fertility rate | Crude birthrate multiplied by the percentage of reproductive age women.
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| genetic assimilation | The disappearance of a species as its genes are diluted through crossbreeding with a closely related species.
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| genetic engineering | Laboratory manipulation of genetic material using molecular biology.
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| geometric growth | Growth that follows a geometric pattern of increase, such as 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. See exponential growth.
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| geothermal energy | Energy drawn from the internal heat of the earth, either through geysers, fumaroles, hot springs, or other natural geothermal features, or through deep wells that pump heated groundwater.
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| grassland | A biome dominated by grasses and associated herbaceous plants.
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| green plans | Integrated national environmental plans for reducing pollution and resource consumption while achieving sustainable development and environmental restoration.
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| green political parties | Political organizations based on environmental protection, participatory democracy, grassroots organization, and sustainable development.
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| green pricing | Plans in which consumers can voluntarily pay premium prices for renewable energy.
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| green revolution | Dramatically increased agricultural production brought about by "miracle" strains of grain; usually requires high inputs of water, plant nutrients, and pesticides.
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| greenhouse effect | Trapping of heat by the earth's atmosphere, which is transparent to incoming visible light waves but absorbs outgoing long-wave infrared radiation.
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| greenhouse gas | A gas that traps heat in the atmosphere.
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| gross domestic product (GDP) | The total economic activity within national boundaries.
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