Environment, SER-WIN
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
sertão, (Portuguese: “backwoods,” or “bush”), dry interior region of northeastern Brazil that is largely covered......
shadow biosphere, hypothetical life-supporting system on Earth, consisting of microorganisms of unique or unusual......
Victor Ernest Shelford American zoologist and animal ecologist whose pioneering studies of animal communities helped......
Shenandoah National Park, preserve of 311 square miles (805 square km) in the Blue Ridge section of the Appalachian......
Vandana Shiva Indian physicist and social activist. Shiva founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology,......
Sibley Provincial Park, park, southwestern Ontario, Canada, on Sibley Peninsula on the northern shore of Lake Superior,......
Sierra Club, American organization that promotes environmental conservation. Its headquarters are in Oakland, California.......
Hammerskjoeld Simwinga Zambian environmentalist who helped fight wildlife poaching in Zambia by creating new economic......
Peter Singer Australian ethical and political philosopher best known for his work in bioethics and his role as......
slick, glassy patch or streak on a relatively undisturbed ocean or lake surface, formed where surface tension is......
Slushball Earth hypothesis, in geology and climatology, a counter-premise to the “Snowball Earth” hypothesis. The......
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), a collection of scientific facilities in Panama that is primarily......
smog, community-wide polluted air. Its composition is variable. The term is derived from the words smoke and fog,......
snow line, the lower topographic limit of permanent snow cover. The snow line is an irregular line located along......
Snowball Earth hypothesis, in geology and climatology, an explanation first proposed by American geobiologist J.L.......
soil organism, any organism inhabiting the soil during part or all of its life. Soil organisms, which range in......
soil seed bank, natural storage of seeds in the leaf litter, on the soil surface, or in the soil of many ecosystems,......
South Spitsbergen National Park, national park and bird sanctuary established by Norway in 1973 in the southern......
Southeast Svalbard Nature Reservation, nature reserve established in 1973 by Norway. One of several protected areas......
species abundance, typically, the sum total of individuals from a given species within a given area. A species......
species richness, the count, or total number, of unique species within a given biological community, ecosystem,......
spring, in climatology, season of the year between winter and summer during which temperatures gradually rise.......
steppe, vast grassland, devoid of trees and with little diversity in vegetation, receiving around 25 to 30 cm (10......
Tom Steyer American business executive and philanthropist who founded (1986) Farallon Capital Management and later......
Stora Sjöfallet National Park, national park in northwestern Sweden. The park was established in 1909 and is located......
Raman Sukumar Indian ecologist best known for his work on the behaviour of Asian elephants and how their presence......
sulfur cycle, circulation of sulfur in various forms through nature. Sulfur occurs in all living matter as a component......
summer, warmest season of the year, between spring and autumn. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is usually defined......
Sundarbans National Park, large natural area in extreme southeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India. The......
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, geologic formation in north-central Arizona, U.S. The monument lies 15......
survivorship curve, graphic representation of the number of individuals in a population that can be expected to......
sustainability, the long-term viability of a community, set of social institutions, or societal practice. In general,......
David Suzuki Canadian scientist, television personality, author, and environmental activist who was known for his......
M.S. Swaminathan Indian geneticist and international administrator, renowned for his leading role in India’s “Green......
Swiss National Park, national park in Graubünden canton, southeastern Switzerland, adjoining the Italian border......
symbiosis, any of several living arrangements between members of two different species, including mutualism, commensalism,......
syntrophism, mutual dependence of different types of organisms for the satisfaction of their respective nutritional......
systems ecology, Branch of ecosystem ecology (the study of energy budgets, biogeochemical cycles, and feeding and......
Tablas de Daimiel National Park, nature reserve and wetland ecosystem, located about 19 miles (30 km) northeast......
Tadoba National Park, national park in eastern Maharashtra state, western India. Extending over an area of 45 square......
taiga, biome (major life zone) of vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing needle-leaved or scale-leaved evergreen......
Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Provincial Park, wilderness park, extreme northwestern British Columbia, Canada,......
Parc National de Taï, national park, southwestern Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), situated between the Liberian border......
temperate forest, vegetation type with a more or less continuous canopy of broad-leaved trees. Such forests occur......
temperate rainforest, in ecology, a biome dominated by a mix of broad-leaved or coniferous trees that occurs in......
territory, in ecology, any area defended by an organism or a group of similar organisms for such purposes as mating,......
Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, two of the 19th century’s most enduring thinkers and figures, share more than......
thermal-heat recovery, use of heat energy that is released from some industrial processes and that would otherwise......
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) demonstrated perfectly the propensity of each generation to overthrow the fondest......
thorn forest, dense scrublike vegetation characteristic of dry subtropical and warm temperate areas with a seasonal......
Thousand Islands National Park, national park covering an area of mainland, islands, and islets in southeastern......
Greta Thunberg Swedish environmental activist who worked to address the problem of climate change, founding (2018)......
timberline, upper limit of tree growth in mountainous regions or in high latitudes, as in the Arctic. Its location......
Timpanogos Cave National Monument, limestone cave system in American Fork Canyon, north-central Utah, U.S. The......
Tongass National Forest, forest region and wilderness area in southeastern Alaska, U.S. It was established in 1907......
toxic waste, chemical waste material capable of causing death or injury to life. Waste is considered toxic if it......
tragedy of the commons, concept highlighting the conflict between individual and collective rationality. The idea......
trophic cascade, an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal......
trophic level, step in a nutritive series, or food chain, of an ecosystem. The organisms of a chain are classified......
trophic pyramid, the basic structure of interaction in all biological communities characterized by the manner in......
tropical dry forest, biome of any open woodland in tropical areas that have a long dry season followed by a season......
tropical rainforest, luxuriant forest found in wet tropical uplands and lowlands around the Equator. Tropical rainforests,......
Tsavo National Park, national park, southeastern Kenya, east of Mount Kilimanjaro. The largest (8,036 square miles......
tundra, a major zone of treeless level or rolling ground found in cold regions, mostly north of the Arctic Circle......
Type I survivorship curve, in ecology, a curve displayed on a semilogarithmic scale that tracks organisms that......
Type II survivorship curve, in ecology, a curve displayed on a semilogarithmic scale that tracks organisms whose......
Ujung Kulon National Park, national park on the island of Java, in the province of Banten, Indonesia. It is best......
Umfolozi Game Reserve, wild animal sanctuary in northern KwaZulu/Natal province, South Africa. The reserve lies......
UNESCO, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that was outlined in a constitution signed November 16, 1945.......
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), conference held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June......
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), organization established in 1972 to guide and coordinate environmental......
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), trust fund under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Development Programme......
Upemba National Park, park in southeastern Congo (Kinshasa). It was created in 1939 and has an area of 4,529 square......
urban ecosystem, any ecological system located within a city or other densely settled area or, in a broader sense,......
Vanoise National Park, nature reserve in Savoie département, Rhône-Alpes région, southeastern France. It is contiguous......
Nikolai Vavilov Soviet plant geneticist whose research into the origins of cultivated plants incurred the animosity......
veld, name given to various types of open country in Southern Africa that is used for pasturage and farmland. To......
Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, natural marine area lying off the island of St. John in the United......
Virunga National Park, park in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa). Created in 1925, it has......
vital rates, relative frequencies of vital occurrences that affect changes in the size and composition of a population.......
volcanic winter, cooling at Earth’s surface resulting from the deposition of massive amounts of volcanic ash and......
Voyageurs National Park, region of lakes and wilderness in northern Minnesota, U.S. The park lies along the Canadian......
Wallace Line, boundary between the Oriental and Australian faunal regions, proposed by the 19th-century British......
Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson British economist and writer. After studying economics at the University of Oxford,......
Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming Danish botanist whose work on the relations between living plants and their surroundings......
water bloom, dense aquatic population of microscopic photosynthetic organisms produced by an abundance of nutrient......
water cycle, cycle that involves the continuous circulation of water in the Earth-atmosphere system. Of the many......
water pollution, the release of substances into subsurface groundwater or into lakes, streams, rivers, estuaries,......
water purification, process by which undesired chemical compounds, organic and inorganic materials, and biological......
water resource, any of the entire range of natural waters that occur on the Earth, regardless of their state (i.e.,......
water scarcity, insufficient freshwater resources to meet the human and environmental demands of a given area.......
water supply, available water provided to fulfill a particular need. If the need is domestic, industrial, or agricultural,......
Paul Watson Canadian American environmental activist who founded (1977) the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,......
White Sands National Park, an expanse of dazzling white gypsum sands in south-central New Mexico, U.S., covering......
Wilderness Act, U.S. environmental protection legislation (1964) that created the National Wilderness Preservation......
wildfire, uncontrolled fire in a forest, grassland, brushland, or land sown to crops. The terms forest fire, brush......
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, centre of the world’s largest collection of waterfowl. It was established in 1946......
Willem Pretorius Game Reserve, game sanctuary in Free State province, South Africa, adjoining Allemanskraal Dam......
Wind Cave National Park, scenic area in southwestern South Dakota, U.S., about 35 miles (56 km) south-southwest......
winter, coldest season of the year, between autumn and spring; the name comes from an old Germanic word that means......