Environment, CAN-EIS
Biological diversity is key to a healthy ecosystem, whether it’s a small biological community or the global biosphere. Ecology, which studies the relationships between organisms and their environment, is an invaluable science that helps us understand what allows an ecological community to thrive.
Environment Encyclopedia Articles By Title
cannibalism, in zoology, the eating of any animal by another member of the same species. Cannibalism frequently......
Richard Cantillon was an Irish economist and financier who wrote one of the earliest treatises on modern economics.......
Canyonlands National Park, desert wilderness of water-eroded sandstone spires, canyons, and mesas, with Archaic......
Cape Breton Highlands National Park, park on Cape Breton Island, in northern Nova Scotia, Canada, that was established......
Cape Krusenstern National Monument, undeveloped wilderness area in northwestern Alaska, U.S., on the treeless coast......
Capitol Reef National Park, long, narrow area of imposing sandstone formations in south-central Utah, U.S. Established......
Julia Carabias Lillo is a Mexican ecologist and environmentalist who served as Mexico’s secretary of the environment,......
carbon cycle, in biology, circulation of carbon in various forms through nature. Carbon is a constituent of all......
carbon footprint, amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with all the activities of a person or other......
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, area of the Chihuahuan Desert in southeastern New Mexico, U.S., near the base of......
carnivore, animal whose diet consists of other animals. Adaptations for a carnivorous diet include a variety of......
Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders was a sociologist, demographer, and educational administrator who, as vice chancellor......
carrying capacity, the average population density or population size of a species below which its numbers tend......
Rachel Carson was an American biologist well known for her writings on environmental pollution and the natural......
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, biologically diverse forest region located southeast of Ashland, southwestern......
Cedar Breaks National Monument, a vast natural amphitheatre, with a diameter of more than 3 miles (5 km), eroded......
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), U.S. nonprofit organization, founded in 1971, that aims to study,......
charismatic megafauna, in ecology and conservation, a term used to identify popular, attractive, and well-known......
Chipko movement, nonviolent social and ecological movement by rural villagers, particularly women, in India in......
Chiricahua National Monument, wilderness of unusual volcanic rock formations—tall and slender pinnacles crowded......
Chobe National Park, national preserve, northern Botswana. The preserve, which acquired national park status in......
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), one of U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s earliest New Deal programs, established......
Helen Clark is a New Zealand politician who was prime minister (1999–2008). She was the first woman in New Zealand......
Clean Air Act (CAA), U.S. federal law, passed in 1970 and later amended, to prevent air pollution and thereby protect......
Frederic Edward Clements was an American botanist, taxonomist, and ecologist who influenced the early study of......
climate change, periodic modification of Earth’s climate brought about as a result of changes in the atmosphere......
climax, in ecology, the final stage of biotic succession attainable by a plant community in an area under the environmental......
cloud forest, vegetation of tropical mountainous regions in which rainfall is often heavy and condensation is persistent......
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), U.S. nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to advocate......
coevolution, the process of reciprocal evolutionary change that occurs between pairs of species or among groups......
cold desert, any large arid area of land that typically receives scant amounts of annual precipitation, which occurs......
Colorado National Monument, scenic wilderness area in west-central Colorado, U.S., just west of the city of Grand......
commensalism, in biology, a relationship between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or......
common-pool resource, a resource made available to all by consumption and to which access can be limited only at......
Barry Commoner was an American biologist and educator. He studied at Harvard University and taught at Washington......
community, in biology, an interacting group of various species in a common location. For example, a forest of trees......
community ecology, study of the organization and functioning of communities, which are assemblages of interacting......
- Introduction
- Keystone Species
- Succession, Species Interactions, Ecosystems
- Equilibrium, Diversity, Interactions
- Mutualism, Interactions, Symbiosis
- Interactions, Antagonism, Coexistence
- Grazing, Interactions, Ecosystems
- Interactions, Structure, Dynamics
- Commensalism, Interaction, Relationships
- Predator-Prey, Interactions, Dynamics
- Gene-for-Gene Coevolution
- Convergence, Interactions, Ecosystems
competition, in ecology, utilization of the same resources by organisms of the same or of different species living......
principle of competitive exclusion, (after G.F. Gause, a Soviet biologist, and J. Grinnell, an American naturalist,......
condensation nucleus, tiny suspended particle, either solid or liquid, upon which water vapour condensation begins......
Congaree National Park, natural area in central South Carolina, U.S., about 20 miles (30 km) southeast of Columbia.......
coniferous forest, vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen trees,......
conservation, study of the loss of Earth’s biological diversity and the ways this loss can be prevented. Biological......
- Introduction
- Extinction Rates, Ecology, Calculations
- Recent Extinctions, Ecology, Biodiversity
- Extinction Rates, Ecology, Calculations
- Population Loss, Habitat Destruction, Extinction
- Endemic Species, Biodiversity, Preservation
- Fire Suppression, Habitat Loss
- Introduced Species, Biodiversity, Ecosystems
- Overharvesting, Sustainability, Biodiversity
- Secondary Extinctions
- Endangered, Threats, Species
- Biodiversity, Preservation, Protection
- Protecting Species, Habitats, Biodiversity
- Habitat Management, Restoration, Preservation
Conservation International, organization that works in more than 40 countries, especially developing ones, to protect......
Convention on Biological Diversity, international treaty designed to promote the conservation of biodiversity and......
coppice, a dense grove of small trees or shrubs that have grown from suckers or sprouts rather than from seed.......
coral bleaching, whitening of coral that results from the loss of a coral’s symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) or......
Coral reef ecosystems, second only to tropical rainforests in terms of biodiversity (or the number of species they......
Corbett National Park, natural area in southern Uttarakhand state, northern India. It was established as Hailey......
Coto Doñana National Park, national park on the southwestern coast of Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.......
Henry Chandler Cowles was an American botanist, ecologist, and educator who influenced the early study of plant......
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, region of volcanic cones, craters, and lava flows near the......
critically endangered species, an endangered species that faces an extremely high risk of extinction in wild habitats,......
Crozet Islands, archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean, 1,500 miles (2,400 km) off the coast of Antarctica, administratively......
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, National historical park, Tennessee, U.S. Created in 1940 to preserve......
Cumbres de Monterrey National Park, park in the Sierra Madre Oriental, in Nuevo León state, northeastern Mexico.......
Drought is an extended period of rainless weather that causes a considerable water imbalance. This infographic......
Pierre Dansereau was a French Canadian plant ecologist who was a pioneer in the study of the dynamics of forests......
Dansgaard-Oeschger event, any of several dramatic but fleeting global climatic swings characterized by a period......
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist whose scientific theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation......
Kingsley Davis was an American sociologist and demographer who coined the terms population explosion and zero population......
Margaret Bryan Davis was an American paleoecologist best known for her pioneering work in the science of palynology......
Hurricanes are the deadliest weather-related disasters in the United States. Since 1930 approximately 10,000 people......
deciduous forest, vegetation composed primarily of broad-leaved trees that shed all their leaves during one season.......
deep ecology, environmental philosophy and social movement based in the belief that humans must radically change......
deep-scattering layer, horizontal zone of living organisms, usually schools of fish, occurring below the surface......
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig—located approximately 41 miles (66 km) off the coast of Louisiana—suffered a catastrophic......
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, largest marine oil spill in history, caused by an April 20, 2010, explosion on the......
deforestation, the clearing or thinning of forests by humans. Deforestation represents one of the largest issues......
demographics, the particular characteristics of a large population over a specific time interval. The word is derived......
The United States contains a highly diverse population. Unlike a country such as China that largely incorporated......
Denali National Park and Preserve, vast region with an unspoiled natural environment of alpine tundra and boreal......
density-dependent factor, in ecology, any force that affects the size of a population of living things in response......
density-independent factor, in ecology, any force that affects the size of a population of living things regardless......
John Denver was an American singer and songwriter who was known for his wholesome, sentimental music that extolled......
depleted uranium, dense mildly radioactive metal that is primarily used in the production of ammunition and armour......
desert, any large, extremely dry area of land with sparse vegetation. It is one of Earth’s major types of ecosystems,......
desertification, the process by which natural or human causes reduce the biological productivity of drylands (arid......
detritus, in ecology, matter composed of leaves and other plant parts, animal remains, waste products, and other......
Devils Tower National Monument, the first U.S. national monument, established in 1906 in northeastern Wyoming,......
Devonian extinctions, a series of mass extinction events primarily affecting the marine communities of the Devonian......
Dinder National Park, park, southeastern Sudan. The park lies in the clayish floodplain of the Dinder and Rahad......
Dinosaur Provincial Park, public park located in the badlands of southeastern Alberta, Canada. The nearly 29-square-mile......
dispersion, in biology, the dissemination, or scattering, of organisms over periods within a given area or over......
Cows are notorious for their emissions of methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas. Cows produce methane through digestion,......
dog days, periods of exceptionally hot and humid weather that often occur in July, August, and early September......
drainage, in agriculture, the artificial removal of water from land. Drainage is employed in the reclamation of......
Earth First!, radical environmental group focused on the protection of wilderness and wildlife. Earth First! was......
ecofeminism, branch of feminism that examines the connections between women and nature. Its name was coined by......
ecological disturbance, an event or force, of nonbiological or biological origin, that brings about mortality to......
ecological footprint (EF), measure of the demands made by a person or group of people on global natural resources.......
ecological resilience, the ability of an ecosystem to maintain its normal patterns of nutrient cycling and biomass......
ecological restoration, the process of repairing sites in nature whose biological communities (that is, interacting......
ecological succession, the process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time. Two different......
ecology, study of the relationships between organisms and their environment. Some of the most pressing problems......
ecosystem, the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular......
ecosystem services, outputs, conditions, or processes of natural systems that directly or indirectly benefit humans......
ecosystemic approach, form of environmental governance that places ecosystemic dynamics at the heart of environmental......
ecotone, a transitional area of vegetation between two different plant communities, such as forest and grassland.......
Loren Eiseley was an American anthropologist, educator, and author who wrote about anthropology for the lay person......