308 The Environmental Debate
landfill trash and garbage disposed of by dumping it on low-lying ground or burying it between
layers of earth.
land reclamation the process of making wetlands and arid land suitable for human uses, includ-
ing agriculture and the construction of buildings.
locavore someone who consumes primarily locally grown and prepared foods.
microenvironment the total ecosystem of a small area, such as a pond, a forest, or a field.
miner’s canary bird or other living thing whose activity can be used to monitor the presence of
an environmental hazard.
monoculture farming, including tree farming, that involves raising only one crop or one species
of plant over a wide area.
moraine accumulated stone and earth that are carried and deposited by a glacier.
natural resource any material, either organic or inorganic, that is found in nature and is of use
to humans.
natural selection the natural process by which those individuals or groups best suited to an envi-
ronment survive and reproduce and those least able to adapt are eliminated.
organic farming farming that does not use synthetic pesticides or inorganic, manmade fertiliz-
ers.
organism any living thing, from a microbe to a tree to a human being.
ozone depletion destruction of the gaseous shield (ozone layer) that protects the earth from
harmful radiation.
pollution the contamination of the air, land, or water with undesirable amounts of materials,
such as wastes.
pcb (polychlorinated byphenal) organic chemical once widely used as a dielectric or coolant
fluid
ppmv (parts per million by volume) a way of expressing the amount of a pollutant gas in a mil-
lion volumes of air.
predation the killing and consuming of animals of other species as a primary means of
obtaining food.
recycling processing materials for reuse.
renewable energy standard (RES) amount of energy required to be generated from renewable
sources such as wind or solar.
renewable resources energy sources, such as wind and sun, that are not depleted as a result of
use and living resources, such as plants and animals, that can be regenerated.
restoration ecology attempts to restore ecosystems to a natural state by eliminating introduced
species and replacing them with species that at one time flourished in the region and by
eliminating dams and other man-made structures.