Concepts

Movement of genes between populations through migration and reproduction

Transfer of pollen between different plant species that share generalist pollinators, often resulting in reproductive costs through pollen loss and reductions in seed set

Classification approach to identify hillslopes with similar hydrologic behavior based on physical and dynamic characteristics

Animals adopt a foraging strategy that provides the most benefit (energy) for the lowest cost

Widespread reductions in pollinator abundance and diversity observed globally, attributed to multiple environmental stressors

Measure of soil acidity/alkalinity that may influence plant phenotype expression

The fraction of solar radiation reflected by the surface, with snow-covered surfaces having high albedo (0.8) and snow-free surfaces having lower values

Regulatory standards for contaminant concentrations in water bodies including acute and chronic limits for aquatic life protection

Microbially-mediated oxidation of organic matter consuming oxygen and producing CO2 that controls oxygen availability in subsurface environments

Accounting framework that tracks carbon inputs, transformations, and outputs in environmental systems to quantify net carbon fluxes

A measure of how successful a bird is at food acquisition, quantified through observations as foraging rate (number of forages divided by time observed)

Direct damage to plant buds and flowers from freezing temperatures occurring during vulnerable developmental stages

Process by which animals become less responsive to repeated non-threatening stimuli over time

The selective choices made by organisms regarding where to construct nests, influenced by environmental factors that affect offspring survival and reproductive success.

Organic carbon derived from sedimentary rocks that is often poorly quantified and influences soil organic carbon composition, age, and stability

Human activities that impose novel challenges on a wide range of species, which can negatively influence individuals, populations, and communities as well as ecosystems

Network statistics that quantify the importance or influence of individuals within social networks, including degree, closeness, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality

The identity and relative abundance of species within an ecological community

The network of feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem

The accuracy of predicted values using root mean square error to assess model performance

Differential expression of genotypes across environmental conditions, indicating genetic variation in phenotypic plasticity

Effects of animal feeding on plant biomass and community structure

Interbreeding between taxa that alters the pool of genetic variation available for population responses to changing environments

Natural selection that favors behaviors that benefit relatives, even at a cost to the individual performing the behavior

The tendency for related species to resemble each other more than expected by chance, measured by Blomberg's K and Pagel's lambda

Selective pressure relationships between host plants and their parasites that can shift based on environmental changes

Experimental technique using recorded sounds played back to animals to test behavioral or physiological responses to acoustic stimuli

Selection that maintains multiple alleles in a population at frequencies above those expected from mutation alone

Loss of species diversity through various processes including lack of adaptation to changing conditions, phenological changes, shifts in species abundance and ranges, and habitat loss

Predation behavior where individuals consume members of their own species, particularly common in A. m. nebulosum populations targeting first year hatchlings

Method of reconstructing past forest conditions using tree-ring data to determine establishment dates and estimate historical stand structure