|
symbiosis
|
The interaction of two mutually supporting species who do not compete with or prey upon each other.
|
|
|
signal-to-noise ratio
|
A quantitative measure of the statistical detectability of a signal, expressed as a ratio of the magnitude of the signal relative to the variability. For first detection of a CO2-induced climate change, the model signal is the mean change or anomaly in some climatic variable, usually surface air temperatures, attributed by a numerical model to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide. Observed noise is the standards deviation or natural variability computed from observations of that variable and agjusted for sample size, autocorrelation and time averaging.
|
|
|
respiration
|
The chemical reaction by which carbohydrates are oxidized and by which all animals and plants convert their food into energy. Carbon dioxide is released and oxygen used up.
|
|
|
proxy climate indicators
|
Dateable evidence of a biological or geological phenomenon whose condition, at least in part is attibutable to climatic conditions at the time of its formation. Proxy data are any material that provides an indirect measure of climate and include document
|
|
|
midden
|
In geology, a mound of organic debris or organic-rich soil created by an animal. In archeology, a mound of human refuse.
|
|
|
medical geology
|
The application of geologic science to problems of health, especially those relating to mineral sources of toxic or nutritious elements and natural dispersal of toxic pollutants.
|
|
|
humic acids
|
Suite of organic acids (RCOOH) of indefinite composition and molecular structure produced by decomposition and condensation reactions. Operationally defined as being solubilized from peat, humus, soil, sediment or other material by dilute-alkali extraction.
|
|
|
historical biogeography
|
"Discipline that deals with the ever-changing distribution of organisms, marine and non-marine, over the earth's surface through geologic time; i.e., the historical counterpart of present-day biogeography, which discusses the modern distribution of all living organism."
|
|
|
greenhouse or icehouse
|
Useful polarized concepts of the state of the planet. Greenhouse collects together global warmth, flattened thermal gradient, increased humidity, high sea level and reduced vigor of oceanic circulation with a tendency toward enhanced anoxia in some parts of the ocean. Icehouse is essentially the reverse state in that assemblage of generalizations. It is important to add not-so-icecap-prone and icecap-prone, respectively, without implying necessarily that the world was ever ice-free.
|
|
|
greenhouse effect
|
The heating of the atmosphere by the absorption of infrared energy re-emitted by the Earth as it receives light energy in the visible band from the Sun.
|
|
|
evergreen
|
Coniferous, needle-leaved or sclerophyllous plant that does not echibit a marked seasonal leaf fall.
|
|
|
eutrophication
|
"A superabundance of algal life in a body of water; caused by an unusual influx of nitrate, phosphate, or other nutrients. "
|
|
|
ecosystem function
|
Ecological processes such as primary production, decomposition, and nutrient cycling that occur at the scale of a system and are affected by a variety of organisms and the environment's microclimate.
|
|
|
ecology
|
The science of the life cycles, populations, and interactions of various biological species as controlled by their physical environment, including also the effect of life form upon the environment.
|
|
|
chloroplast
|
A body within a plant cell or plantlike cell that serves as the site of photosynthesis within the cell. Chloroplasts are apparently evolutionary descendants of blue-green algae that became trapped in other single-celled organisms.
|
|
|
biogeography
|
The study of the distribution of organisms on a geographic scale.
|
|
|
amniote egg
|
The type of egg laid by reptiles and birds having a nutritious yolk and a hard outer shell to protect the embryo from the dry environment. The amniote egg is named for the amnion a sac that contains the embryo.
|
|
|
allelochemicals
|
Chemicals produced by one species that enter the environment and influence other species.
|
|
