t

ecological dictionary

T

Tacarigua

A lagoon in the state of Miranda in Venezuela.

Tacuari

A river in Paraguay, a tributary of the Paraná.

Tahona

A flour mill that is rotated by horses.

Tamarisk

A shrub or small tree that grows up to 5 meters in height. It has long flexible branches, a reddish trunk and small flowers.

Teratogen

Any substance that produces defects in babies before they are born. The best known teratogen is thalidomide, a drug that was given to pregnant women before its damaging effects were known. Organic mercury compounds (such as methyl mercury) are also teratogenic for humans. Dioxins are teratogens for both animals and for humans.

Territorial

A behavior in which an organism defends an area against intrusion.

Territory

The area where an individual, couple or society live permanently. They defend their territory at all costs when others from the same species try to occupy it.

Toxin

A poisonous substance: for example, a pesticide.

Transpiration

The loss of water vapor through plants. This action helps the pressure of the root push the water through the stem. In this way the plant can increase the amount of water that rises through its stem.

Tree felling

The tearing down of trees in a jungle or forest to make space for agriculture

and to use the wood for construction, paper, or other uses.

Tree diseases

Even before acid rain began to damage the forests of Northern Europe and the East Coast of North America, many trees were being damaged by virulent diseases. The most evident cause of these epidemics is the introduction of foreign parasites against which native trees do not have natural defenses.

It is hard to treat tree illnesses. Using pesticides in the forests only treats the symptoms. The only real solution would be to correct the imbalances that have been produced. Ideally the work is left to evolution, but that takes a long time. To accelerate the process of adaptation we can plant trees to improve the ground.

Trench

A groove or canal formed by the movement of water during and after rain. Trenches caused by inadequate farming methods cause erosion, degrading the soil.

Trophic

Related to nutrition. Organisms that have the same general mode of nutrition are said to be on the same trophic level. Plant eaters are for example usually on a different trophic level than carnivores (“meat eaters”).

Trophic level

A group of organisms that have a similar diet.

Tropism

The movement made by plants that is provoked by an outside stimulus: for example, gravity or light.

Tropical forest

A forest covered with dense foliage and rattans, and hosting an enormous variety of plants and animals. Found in low regions near the Equator, that range from very rainy to very dry and hot.

a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z