APES full review

Core

Dense mass of solid nickel, iron, and radioactive elements that release massive amount of heat

Mantle

liquid layer of magma surrounding core, kept liquified by intense heat from core

Asthenosphere

solid, flexible outer layer of mantle, beneath the lithosphere

Lithosphere

thin, brittle layer of rock floating on top of mantle (broken up into tectonic plates)

Crust

very outer layer of the lithosphere, earth’s surface

Divergent Plate Boundary

Forms: mid-oceanic ridges, volcanoes, seafloor spreading, and rift valleys (on land)

Convergent Plate Boundary

Forms: mountains, island arcs, earthquakes, and volcanoes

Transform Fault Plate Boundary

Forms: earthquakes

subduction

one plate being forced beneath another

Oceanic-Oceanic

one plate subducts underneath other

Oceanic-Continental

dense oceanic plate subducts beneath cont. Plate & melts back into magma

Continental-Continental

one plate subducts underneath other, forcing surface crust upward (mountains)

Ring of Fire

pattern of volcanoes all around pacific plate

Humus

main organic part of soil (broken down biomass like leaves, dead animals, waste, etc.)

Porosity

the amount of pore space a soil has

Permeability

how easily water drains through a soil

Exosphere

Outermost layer where atm. merges with space

Thermosphere

absorbs harmful X-rays & UV radiation

charged gas molecules glow under intense solar radiation producing northern lights (aurora borealis)

Mesosphere

Meso = for middle; 60-80 km, even less dense

Stratosphere:

Thickest O3 layer is found here; absorbs UV-B & UV-C rays which can mutate DNA of animals (cancer)

Troposphere

Tropo = change (weather occurs here) - 0-16 km, most dense due to pressure of other layers above it

Watersheds

All of the land that drains into a specific body of water (river, lake, bay, etc.)

Insolation

the amount of solar radiation (energy from sun’s rays) reaching an area; Measured in Watts/m2

Solstices

June and December

Equinox

March and Septemember

Albedo

the proportion of light that is reflected by a surface

Urban Heat Island

urban areas are hotter than surrounding rural area due to low albedo of blacktop

Ecosystem

all living & nonliving things in an area (plants, animals, rocks, soil, water, air)

Biome

large area with similar climate conditions that determine plant & animal species there

Symbiosis

Any close and long-term interaction between two organisms of different species

Resource partitioning

different species using the same resource in diff. ways to reduce competition

Temporal partitioning

using resource @ different times, such as wolves & coyotes hunting @ different times (night vs. day)

Spatial partitioning

using diff. areas of a shared habitat (diff. length roots)

Morphological partitioning:

using diff. resources based on diff. evolved body features

Wetland

area with soil submerged/saturated in water for at least part of the year, but shallow enough for emergent plants

Estuaries

areas where rivers empty into the ocean

Carbon sink

a carbon reservoir that stores more carbon than it releases

Atmosphere

main N reservoir

Nitrogen Fixation

Process of N2 gas being converted into biologically available (useable by plants) NH3 (ammonia) or NO3- (nitrate)

Bacterial fixation

certain bacteria that live in the soil, or in symbiotic relationship with plant root nodules convert N2 into ammonia (NH3)

Synthetic fixation

humans combust FFs to convert N2 gas into nitrate (NO3-)

Assimilation

plants & animals taking N in and incorporating it into their body

Ammonification

oil bacteria, microbes & decomposers converting waste & dead biomass back into NH3 and returning it to soil

Nitrification

conversion of NH4 into nitrite (NO2-) & then nitrate (NO3) by soil bacteria

Denitrification

conversion of soil N (NO3) into nitrous oxide (N2O) gas which returns to atmosphere

Rocks & sediments

major P reservoirs

Geological uplift

tectonic plate collision forcing up rock layers that form mountains

Primary Productivity

rate that solar energy is converted into org. compounds via photosynthesis over a unit of time

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

The amount of energy (biomass) leftover for consumers after plants have used some for respiration

Respiration loss (RL)

plants use up some of the energy they generate via photosynthesis by doing cell. respiration

Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)

The total amount of sun energy (light) that plants capture and convert to energy (glucose) through photosynthesis

1st law of thermodynamics

energy is never created or destroyed

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Each time energy is transferred, some of it is lost as heat

10% Rule

in trophic pyramids, only about 10% of the energy from one level makes it to the next level; the other 90% is used by the organism & lost as heat

Biodiversity Basics

Diversity of life forms in an ecosystem

Ecosystem diversity

the number of diff. habitats available in a given area

Species diversity

the number of diff. species in an ecosystem and the balance or evenness of the pop. sizes of all species in the ecosystem

Genetic diversity

how different the genes are of individuals within a population (group of the same species)

Richness

the total number of different species found in an ecosystem

Evenness

a measure of how all of the individual organisms in an ecosystem are balanced between the different species

Bottleneck Event

An env. disturbance (natural disaster/human hab. destruction) that drastically reduces pop. size & kills organisms regardless of their genome

Resilience

the ability of an ecosystem to return to its original conditions after a major disturbance

Ecosystem Services

Goods that come from natural resources or services/functions that ecosystems carry out that have measurable economic/financial value to humans

Provisioning Services

Goods/products directly provided to humans for sale/use by ecosystems

Regulating Services

Benefit provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural conditions like climate and air quality

Supporting Services

Natural ecosystems support processes we do ourselves, making them less costly and easier for us

Cultural Services

Revenue from recreational activities (hunting/fishing licenses, park fees, tourism-related spending) & profits from scientific discoveries made in ecosystems (health/ag./educational knowledge)

Primary Succession

starts from bare rock in an area with no previous soil formation

Secondary Succession

starts from already established soil, in an area where a disturbance (fire/tornado/human land clearing) cleared out the majority of plant life

Density-Dependent Factors

factors that influence pop. growth based on size

Density-Independent Factors

factors that influence pop. growth independent of their size

rapid growth

extreme pyramid shape =

slow, stable growth

less extreme pyramid shape

stable, no growth

house

declining pop.

narrow @ base

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

avg. number of children a woman in a population will bear throughout her lifetime

Replacement Level Fertility

the TFR required to offset deaths in a pop. and keep pop. size stable

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

number of deaths of children under 1 year per 1,000 people in a pop.

Malthusian theory

Earth has a human carrying capacity, probably based on food production

Growth Rate (r)

% increase in a population (usually per year)

Crude Birth Rate & Crude Death Rate (CBR & CDR)

Births & deaths per 1,000 people in a pop.

Tragedy of the Commons

Individuals will use shared/public resources* in their own self interest, degrading** them

The Green Revolution

Shift in agriculture away from small, family operated farms to large, industrial-scale agribusiness

Mechanization

Increased use of tractors for plowing and tilling fields

Monocropping

Growing one single species (corn, wheat, soy) of crop

Tilling

Mixing and breaking up soil to make planting easier

Slash & Burn

Cutting down vegetation and burning it to clear land for ag. & return nutrients in plants to soil

Furrow Irrigation

Trench dug along crops & filled with water

Drip Irrigation

Holes in hose allow water to slowly drip out

Flood Irrigation

Flood entire field; easier but more disruptive to plants

Spray Irrigation

Ground or surface water pumped into spray nozzles

groundwater recharge

rain water percolating down through soil into aquifer

Aquifers

useable groundwater deposits for humans

Saltwater Intrusion

excessive pumping near coast lowers water table pressure, allowing saltwater to seep into groundwater

Cone of depression

forms when water table is lowered by excessive pumping, depleting water & drying nearby wells

CAFOs

Also called feedlots - densely crowded method where animals are fed grain (corn) to raise them to as quickly as possible

Fisheries

populations of fish used for commercial fishing

Bycatch

unintended species like dolphins, whales, turtles caught in nets

Bottom Trawling

Especially harmful fishing method that involves draggin a large net along ocean floor

Overburden

Soil, vegetation, & rocks that are removed to get to an ore deposit below