Altitudinal zonation: the sorting of plant and animal species according to elevation in response to differences in temperature and precipitation patterns.
Biogeography: the science that studies the distribution of life, past and present.
Colonization: the establishment of a population in a place formerly unoccupied by said population. Colonization implies successful reproduction in the new area, not simply the presence of a species there.
Dispersal: the transport of propagules beyond the limits of a species' distribution area
Distribution area: the geographic range of a taxon.
Feral: describes a species that was once tamed or domesticated and has since reverted to a free-roaming life in the wild.
Life Zone: Belts of vegetation that are similar in structure in both latitudinal and elevational expressions.
Native: a species which is a natural member of a biotic community. An indigenous species. The term implies that humans were not involved in the dispersal or colonization of the species.
Propagule: In animals, the minimum number of individuals of a species capable of colonizing a new area. This may be fertilized eggs, a mated female, a single male and a single female, or a whole group of organisms depending upon the biological and behavioral requirements of the species. In plants, a propagule is whatever structure functions to reproduce the species: a seed, spore, stem or root cutting, etc.
Sympatric: literally, "same country"; refers to distribution areas of different species that overlap.
Vicariant: Refers to species that occupy similar ecological niches but in geographic isolation from each other. Implies a phylogenetic relationship existing between the two species.
Biodiversity: The total variation in life, including the number of species, the degree of genetic variation within species, the different types of ecosystems, and the all ecosystem functions.
Biome: one of the largest recognizably distinct ecosystems on earth; the plant and animal communities and associated soils that are characteristic of a given regional climate type.
Community: A group of populations of different species occupying a given place at a given time that are viewed as interdependent. An aggregation of interacting species. Sometimes used to refer to only the assemblage of populations of a particular class of organisms, such as the bird community, the herb community, and so forth.
Dispersal: the transport of propagules away from the parent.
Diversity: a) the total number of species present; b) some index which incorporates both the number of species and the relative abundance of each.
Ecological succession: (according to the original theory): the development of an ecosystem through a predictable series of communities until a final, stable community (the climax community) in balance with the regional climate is attained. In its original form, the theory implied that each community altered the habitat and prepared it for invasion by the next, succeeding community.
Ecology: the science that studies the relationships between organisms and their environment. "The study of the structure and function of nature" (Odum, 1971--Fundamentals of Ecology).
Ecosystem: A community of species together with the surrounding environment that function together as a coherent unit to maintain a flow of energy and to acquire, store, and recycle nutrients.
Edaphic factor: A permanent or nearly permanent condition of the substrate that influences the types of plants that grow in an area. For example, substrates may be permanently or seasonally waterlogged, droughty, deficient in essential nutrients, extremely thin, and so forth.
Environment: the totality of physical, chemical, and biotic conditions surrounding an organism
Environmental resistance: those factors of the environment which prevent reproduction or inhibit development of a species and hence limit the extent (or determine the borders) of its distribution area.
Function: refers to action, how something works. In the case of ecosystem functions we look at photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, population control, dispersal mechanisms, temporal patterns of flowering , breeding, dormancy, and so forth.
Landscape Ecology: the study of patterns of ecosystems of a given area and the interactions among those various ecosystems.
Niche: the total requirements and tolerances of a species; its way of life, including how it traps energy and otherwise uses its habitat or microhabitat.
Pioneer species: a species that is an early occupant of newly created or disturbed areas. A member of the early stage communities in ecological succession.
Population: the individuals of a given species that occupy the same locality and form the interbreeding group in that location. A group of two or more populations that regularly exchange genes is known as a metapopulation..
Structure: the physical arrangement or spatial patterns of the components of an ecosystem, especially the plant life. Includes growthforms, number of canopy layers, degree of cover, distribution patterns of species within the ecosystem (patches, for example). Structure may also refer to the organization of the ecosystem in terms of trophic levels.
Weed: a species that volunteers in artificially modified habitats and is considered undesirable by people. The same species may occur elsewhere in a wild state, or even in cultivation. Weedy habit refers to the propensity of certain species to disperse easily and widely and to colonize disturbed habitats.
Adaptation: a condition or character which afford fitness to a species in a particular environment.
Adaptive radiation: evolutionary divergence of members of a single phyletic line into many different niches.
Allele: one of two or more different chemical codes possible for a given gene. Offer variation in a given trait.
Cline: a series of contiguous populations that exhibit gradual and continuous change of character in response to some environmental gradient.
Chromosome: rod-shaped bodies in the nuclei of cells that consist of a string of genes and maintain the structure or arrangement of the genetic code (DNA).
Convergence: phenotypic similarity in distantly related (or unrelated) forms, presumably in response to similar selective pressures.
Evolution: a change in the allele frequencies within a population
Fitness: the measure of a species ability to survive and reproduce
Founder Principle: a few individuals starting a new population may represent an atypical sample of the parent species' gene pool. This "sampling error" leads to the founder effect: rapid changes in allele frequencies in the colonizing population and divergence from the parent population.
Gene: the segment of DNA at a particular locus on a particular chromosome that controls production of proteins and enzymes and influences the development of a specific trait.
Gene flow: the transfer of genes (actually, alleles) from one population to another.
Gene pool: the totality of genetic information in a given population at a given time
Genetic drift: allele frequency changes in populations caused by random events rather than by natural selection, especially the effects of sampling error on the gene pool of small populations.
Genotype: the genes (or alleles) present in an individual
Geographic isolation: the separation of a population form the rest of its species due to physical barrier, such as a mountain range, an ocean, or great distance.
Individual variation: phenotypic diversity within a population.
Locus: a specific place or location on a given chromosome. The genetic information encoded there is a gene.
Phenotype: the totality of characteristics of an individual: the expression of the genotype.
Phyletic gradualism: the belief that evolution (and especially speciation) occurs over considerable time through a slow accumulation of new alleles and changing allele frequencies.
Phylogeny: the evolutionary history of a taxon. The graphic representation of a phylogeny is called a phylogenetic tree.
Punctuated equilibrium: the belief that evolution proceeds by spurts of change interspersed with long periods of stasis (genetic stability) where selection favors no change.
Reproductive isolation: a condition in which interbreeding between populations is prevent by intrinsic factors of the species themselves.
Speciation: the process by which new species arise. The process by which discontinuities between populations arise that are caused by the development of reproductively isolating mechanisms.
Boundary: the line or zone formed by the edges of two adjacent ecosystems.
Corridor: a linear strip of habitat type that differs from that on either side of it.
Edge: that part of an ecosystem near the perimeter that is influenced by the environment of the adjacent ecosystem so that it differs in some characteristics from the center of the ecosystem. Edge effect refers to changes in species composition, distribution and/or abundance found in the edge relative to the interior.
Landscape: a mosaic of repeated ecosystems in a given geographic area. The land is heterogeneous, but there are structural and functional relationships among the matrix and the various patches and corridors.
Matrix: the background land use or vegetation in a landscape: that ecosystem-type which is most extensive so that others appear as patches or corridors within it.
Patch: a nonlinear habitat type that differs from the surrounding vegetation.
Clade: in cladistics, a group with a common set of shared derived characteristics persumed inherited from a common ancestor
Cladistics: a methodology for reconstructing evolutionary relationships of taxa, both living and extinct, by using the distribution of shared derived characters.
Cladogram: in cladistics, a graphic depiction of evolutionary relationships based on shared derived characters
Congeners: refers to species belonging to the same genus
Conspecific: refers to individuals or populations of the same species
Derived (character): in cladistics, a feature shared among members of smaller groups or clades that is believed to have evolved at a later date than primitive features. Also called advanced.
Fauna: the animal life of a given area. A list of all species of animals found in a given area.
Flora: the plant life of a given area. A list of all species of plants found in a given area., often listing diagnostic features.
Taxon: any one of the levels in the taxonomic hierarchy:
Primitive (character): in cladistics, a character shared among and defining members of a large group or clade and believed to have arisen early in the group's evolution.
Taxonomy: the science of classifying and identifying organisms. The modern classification of organisms reflects their presumed phylogeny.
Taxonomic terminology
Index
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