Concept Taxonomy
The following taxonomy organizes the 380 ecology concepts into 12 categories for visualization and navigation in the learning graph.
Categories
FOUND - Foundation Concepts
Core ecological principles and definitions that underpin all other topics. Includes basic terms like ecology, ecosystem, species, population, community, habitat, niche, biosphere, biome, energy, matter, and nutrients.
ECOS - Ecosystems and Biomes
Terrestrial and aquatic biome types, ecosystem structure, producers, consumers, decomposers, and trophic organization. Covers the physical classification of Earth's living systems.
ENFL - Energy Flow
Energy transfer through ecosystems including productivity measures (GPP, NPP), the 10% rule, biomass, autotrophs, heterotrophs, thermodynamics, and trophic efficiency.
CYCL - Biogeochemical Cycles
The cycling of matter through Earth's systems: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water cycles, including specific processes like nitrogen fixation, decomposition, and carbon sequestration.
INTR - Species Interactions
Ecological relationships between organisms: predation, competition, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, coevolution, keystone species, and community dynamics.
BIOD - Biodiversity and Services
Genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity; ecosystem services; island biogeography; ecological tolerance; adaptations; and ecological succession.
POPU - Population Ecology
Population dynamics, growth models, carrying capacity, survivorship curves, reproductive strategies, human demographics, and the demographic transition.
ERTH - Earth Systems
Physical foundations: plate tectonics, soil science, atmosphere, wind patterns, watersheds, climate patterns, and ENSO cycles.
LAND - Land, Water, and Energy Use
Human resource use and impacts: agriculture, mining, urbanization, energy sources (fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear), sustainability practices, and conservation.
POLL - Pollution
Air, water, and land pollution: pollutant types, smog, acid rain, eutrophication, bioaccumulation, waste management, toxicology, and environmental legislation.
GLOB - Global Change
Large-scale environmental challenges: ozone depletion, climate change, ocean impacts, biodiversity loss, endangered species, and international policy frameworks.
SYST - Systems Thinking
Systems concepts: stocks and flows, feedback loops, leverage points, emergence, resilience, regime shifts, causal loop diagrams, and complex systems.
CRIT - Critical Thinking and Literacy
Scientific method, logical fallacies, source evaluation, statistical literacy, media literacy, misinformation detection, and environmental ethics.