Environmental Changes & Natural Selection

Mutation

a change in a gene

barrier reef

a coral reef roughly parallel to a shore and separated from it by a lagoon or other body of water

population

a group of individuals belonging to the same species that live in the same region at the same time

Population

a group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

Species

a group of similar organisms that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

artificial reef

a manmade structure that may mimic some of the characteristics of a natural reef

Adaptation

a physical advantage that helps an organism better survive in its environment

endangered

a plant or animal species existing in such small numbers that it is in danger of becoming extinct

Gene

a section/part of DNA

invasive / alien species

a species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health

adaptation

a trait with a current functional role in the life of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection

Organism

any living thing (includes: bacteria, insects, plants, and animals)

Evolution

changes in a species over time

short-term environmental change

changes such as floods, blizzard, or drought that don't give populations time to adapt to change and force them to move or become extinct

Natural Selection

changes to a species over time caused by environmental pressure. Organisms with unsuccessful variations die and those with successful adaptations live and pass on their changes to later generations

long-term environmental change

climate change which can permanently alter an ecosystem, but over time the change may cause some genetic variations to become more favorable or less favorable in the new environment, but if adaptations to the new environment are not present or do not develop, populations can become extinct

traits

distinct variant of a characteristic of an organism which may be determined by genetics, environment, or both

Artificial Selection/Selective Breeding

humans select traits they would like to see in an organism and breed/mate organisms with those traits

native species

indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural process, with no human intervention

selective breeding

intentional breeding of organisms with desirable trait in an attempt to produce offspring with similar desirable characteristics or with improved traits

algal bloom

relatively rapid increase in the population of algae in an aquatic system

comercial harvesting

removing aquatic wild animals or plants for a profit

runoff

something that drains or flows off, as rain that flows off from the land in streams and empties into bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds, and the ocean

extinction

the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species

DNA

the molecules of inheritance that determine physical traits

migration

the physical movement by a group or animals or species from one area to another

Inheritance

the process by which physical characteristics are passed from the parent (or parents) to the offspring

ecological succession

the process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time