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