abiotic
	Environmental factors caused by nonliving components.
arithmetic growth
	A pattern of growth that increases at a constant amount per unit time, such as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 1, 3, 5, 7.
biotic
	Pertaining to life; environmental factors created by living organisms.
biotic potential
	The maximum reproductive rate of an organism, given unlimited resources and ideal environmental conditions. Compare with environmental resistance.
carrying capacity
	The maximum number of individuals of any species that can be supported by a particular ecosystem on a long-term basis.
catastrophic systems
	Dynamic systems that jump abruptly from one seemingly steady state to another without any intermediate stages.
chaotic systems
	Systems that exhibit variability, which may not be necessarily random, yet whose complex patterns are not discernible over a normal human timescale.
dieback
	A sudden population decline; also called a population crash.
emigration
	The movement of members from a population.
environmental resistance
	All the limiting factors that tend to reduce population growth rates and set the maximum allowable population size or carrying capacity of an ecosystem.
exponential growth
	Growth at a constant rate of increase per unit of time; can be expressed as a constant fraction or exponent. See geometric growth.
fecundity
	The physical ability to reproduce.
geometric growth
	Growth that follows a geometric pattern of increase, such as 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. See exponential growth.
irruptive growth
	A population explosion followed by a population crash; also called Malthusian growth.
J curve
	A growth curve produced by a constant rate of unfettered growth.
life expectancy
	The probable number of years of survival for an individual of a given age.
life span
	The longest period of life reached by a given type of organism.
logistic growth
	Growth rates regulated by internal and external factors that establish an equilibrium with environmental resources.
mortality
	Death rate in a population; the probability of dying.
natality
	The production of new individuals by birth, hatching, germination, or cloning.
overshoot
	The extent to which a population exceeds the carrying capacity of its environment.
population crash
	A sudden population decline caused by predation, waste accumulation, or resource depletion; also called a dieback.
population explosion
	Growth of a population at exponential rates to a size that exceeds environmental carrying capacity; usually followed by a population crash.
population momentum
	A potential for increased population growth as young members reach reproductive age.
S curve
	A curve that depicts logistic growth; called an S curve because of its shape.
stress-related disease
	See stress shock.
stress shock
	A loose set of physical, psychological, and/or behavioral changes thought to result from the stress of excess competition and extreme closeness to other members of the same species.
survivorship
	The percentage of a population reaching a given age or the proportion of the maximum life span of the species reached by any individual.

Copyright ©1998 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
For further information about this site contact mhhe_webmaster@mcgraw-hill.com.