APES: Vocab 1 My Community Ecology

AP Environmental Science

Urbanization

The growth and expansion of cities as people move from rural to urban areas, often leading to increased resource consumption, pollution, and habitat loss.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land, characterized by low-density housing, car dependence, and loss of farmland and wildlife habitat.

Urban Area

A region with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment, such as cities and towns.

Rural Area

Regions outside cities with low population density and large areas of open space, typically focused on agriculture or natural landscapes.

Zoning Laws

Local government regulations that dictate how land can be used (residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural) to organize urban growth.

Economy

The system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services within a society that affects resource use and environmental impact.

Planned City

A city designed and built with a specific layout or plan, often aiming for efficient infrastructure, sustainability, and accessibility.

Mass Transportation

Public transit systems such as buses, trains, and subways that move large numbers of people efficiently, reducing traffic congestion and emissions.

Smart Growth Principles

Urban planning strategies aimed at sustainable development, reducing sprawl, promoting walkability, preserving open space, and supporting mixed land use.

J-curve growth

A population growth pattern showing exponential increase without environmental limits; often unsustainable in the long term.

S-curve growth

A population growth pattern that starts exponentially but levels off when reaching carrying capacity due to limiting factors.

Exponential growth

Growth at a constant rate per time period, leading to rapid increases; occurs when resources are unlimited and environmental resistance is low.

Species

A group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area at a specific time.

Evolution

The change in the genetic composition of a population over generations, driven by mechanisms like mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift.

Natural Selection

The process by which individuals with traits better suited to their environment survive and reproduce, passing on those advantageous traits.

Adaptation

A heritable trait that improves an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

Mutation

A random change in DNA that may produce a new trait; can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful to survival.

Convergent evolution

When unrelated species evolve similar traits due to adapting to similar environmental conditions (e.g., dolphins and sharks).

Artificial selection

The process by which humans breed plants or animals for specific traits (e.g., dog breeds, crop varieties).

Geographic Isolation

When physical barriers (mountains, rivers, etc.) separate populations, preventing gene flow and potentially leading to speciation.

Reproductive Isolation

When two populations can no longer interbreed successfully due to behavioral, temporal, or genetic differences.

Biodiversity

The variety of life on Earth, including species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity.

Speciation

The formation of new species through evolutionary processes when populations become reproductively isolated.

Allopatric speciation

Speciation that occurs when populations are geographically separated, leading to divergence and formation of new species.

Phylogenetic tree

A diagram showing evolutionary relationships among species based on genetic or morphological similarities.

Fossil

Preserved remains or traces of organisms from the past, used to study evolution and environmental change over time.

Extinction

The complete disappearance of a species from Earth.

Endemic species

A species found naturally in only one geographic location, often highly specialized and vulnerable to extinction.

Background extinction

The normal, gradual rate of species loss over time due to natural evolutionary and ecological processes.

Mass extinction

A widespread and rapid decrease in the number of species on Earth, often caused by catastrophic events or major environmental changes.