Studied by 11 people
Based off the textbook: Environmental Science for the AP Course (4th Edition) - Andrew Friedland / Rick Relyea
Climate
The average weather that occurs in a given region over a long period of time.
Weather
The short-term conditions of the atmosphere in a local area that include temperature, humidity, clouds, precipitation, and wind speed.
Community ecology
The study of interactions among species.
Symbiosis
Two species living in a close and long-term association with one another in an ecosystem
Biosphere
The region of our planet where life resides.
Competition
The struggle of individuals, either within or between species, to obtain a shared limiting resource
Competitive exclusion principle
The principle stating that two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot coexist.
Resource partitioning
When two species evolve to divide a resource based on differences in their behavior or morphology.
Predation
An interaction in which one animal typically kills and consumes another animal.
Parasitoid
A specialized type of predator that lays eggs inside other organisms - refereed to as its host
Parasitism
An interaction in which one organism lives on or in another organism - referred to as the host.
Pathogen
A parasite that causes disease in its host.
Herbivory
An interaction in which an animal consumes plants or algae.
Mutualism
An interaction between two species that increases the chances of survival or reproduction for both species.
Photosynthesis
The process by which plants and algae use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2).
Commensalism
An interaction between two species in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor helped.
Native Species
A species that lives in its historical range, typically where it has lived for thousands of millions of years.
Exotic/Alien species
a species living outside its historical range
invasive species
A species that spreads rapidly across large areas and cause harm.
Biome
The plants and animals that are found in a particular region of the world
Terrestrial biome
A geographic region of land categorized by a particular combination of average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and distinctive plant growth forms.
Aquatic biomes
An aquatic region characterized by a particular combination of salinity, depth, and water flow.
Habitat
An area where a particular species lives in nature.
Tundra
A cold and treeless biome with low-growing vegetation (Low precipitation and temps, ie. Greenland)
Permafrost
An impermeable, permanently frozen layer of soil
Taiga/Boreal forest
A forest biome made up primarily of coniferous evergreen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons (Warm & cold temps., low precipitation, ie. most of middle Canada)
Temperate rainforest
A costal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation. (Fluctuating temps and precip., ie. British Columbia, Washington)
Temeprate seasonal forest
a biome with warm summers and cold winters with over 1 m (39 inches) of annual precipitation. (ie.Europe/East Coast U.S.)
Shrubland/Woodland
A biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters (ie. California, Iberia)
Temperate grassland/Cold dessert
A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, and hot, dry summers. (ie. Oklahoma, Denver)
Tropical rainforest
A warm and wet biome found between 20N and 20S of the equator, with little season temperature variation and high precipitation (ie. Philippines)
Savanna
A biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons. (ie.Subsahara Africa)
Hot desert
A biome located roughly at 30N and 30S o, and characterized by hot temperature, extremely dry conditions and sparse vegetation. (ie. Sahara)
Freshwater biomes
Categorized as streams and rivers, lakes and ponds, or freshwater wetlands
Littoral zone
The shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds near the shore where most algae and emergent plants such as cattails grow.
Limnetic zone
A zone of open water in lakes and ponds as deep as the sunlight can penetrate.
Phytoplankton
Floating algae
Profundal zone
A region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes.
Benthic zone
The muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean beneath the limnetic and profundal zones.
Oligotrophic
Describes a lake with a low level of phytoplankton due to low amounts of nutrients in the water.
Mesotrophic
Describes a lake with a moderate level of fertility
Eutrophic
Describes a lake with a high level of fertility.
Freshwater wetland
An aquatic biome that is submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough to support emergent vegetation.
Estuary
An area along the coast where the fresh water of rivers mixes with salt water from the ocean
Salt marsh
Found along the coast in temperate climates, a marsh containing nonwoody emergent vegetation
Mangrove swamp
A swamp that occurs a long tropical and subtropical coasts, and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water.
Itertidal zone
The narrow band of coastline that exists between the levels of high tide and low tide.
Coral reef
represents Earth’s most diverse marine biome, and are found in warm, shallow waters beyond the shoreline in tropical regions.
Coral bleaching
A phenomenon in which algae inside corals die, causing the corals to turn white.
Open Ocean
Deep-ocean water, located away from the shoreline where sunlight can no longer reach the ocean bottom.
Photic zone
The upper layer of ocean water in the ocean that receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
Aphotic zone
The deeper layer of ocean water that lacks sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis.
Chemosynthesis
A process used by some bacteria to generate energy with methane and hydrogen sulfide.
Biogeochemical cycle
The movements of matter within and between Ecosystems including cycles of biological, geological, and chemical rpocesses
Reservoirs
The components of the biogeochemical cycle that contain the matter, including air, water and organism
Aerobic respiration
The process by which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, CO2 and water
Steady state
When a system’s incputs equal outputs, so that the system is not changing over time.
Greenhouse gasses
Gases in Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat near the surface
Global warming
The increase in global temperatures due to humans producing more greenhouse gases
Limiting nutrient
a nutrient required for the growth of an organism but available in a lower quantity than other nutrients
Nitrogen cycle
The movement of nitrogen around the biosphere among reservoir sources and sinks.
Nitrogen fixation
The process that converts nitrogen gas in the atmosphere (N2) into forms of nitrogen that plants and algae can you
Nitrification
The conversion of ammonia (NH4+) into nitrite (NO2-) and then into nitrate (NO 3-)
Assimilation
A process by which plants and algae incorporate nitrogen into their tissues
Mineralization
The process by which fungal and bacterial decomposers break down the organic matter found in dead bodies and waste products and convert these organic compound back into inorganic compounds (aka ammonification)
Denitrification
The conversion of nitrate (NO3-) in a series of steps into the gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and, eventually, nitrogen gas (N2), which is emitted into the atmosphere
Anaerobic
An environment that lacks oxygen
Aerobic
An environment with abundant oxygen
Leaching
A process in which dissolved molecules are transported through the soil via groundwater.
Phosphorus cycle
The movement of phosphorous around the biosphere among reservoir sources and sinks.
Algal bloom
A rapid increase in the algal population of a waterway
Hypoxic
Low in oxygen
Dead zone
When oxygen concentrations become so low that it kills fish and other aquatic animals.
Hydrologic cycle
The movement of water around the biosphere among reservoir sources and sinks.
Transpiration
The release of water from leaves into the atmosphere during photosyntehesis
Evapotranspiration
The combined amount of evaporation and transpiration
Runoff
Water that moves across the land surface and into streams and rivers
Producers
Plants, algae, and some bacteria that use the Sun’s energy to produce usable forms of energy, such as sugars (aka autotrophs)
Cellular respiration
The process by which cells unlock the energy of chemical compounds
Anaerobic respiration
The process by which cells convert glucose into energy in the absence of oxygen.
Primary Productivity
the rate of converting solar energy into organic compounds over a period of time
Gross Primary productivity (GPP)
The total amount of solar energy that producers in an ecosystem capture via photosyntesis over a given amount of time.
Net primary productivity (NPP)
The energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire
Biomass
The total mass of all living matter in a specific area.
Standing crop
The amount of biomass present in an ecosystem at a particular time.
Consumer
An organism that is incapable of photosynthesis and must therefore obtain its energy by consuming other organisms (AKA heterotroph)
Herbivore
A consumer that eats producers (aka primary consumer)
Carnivore
A consumer that eats other consumers
Secondary consumers
A carnivore that eats primary consumers
Tertiary consumer
A carnivore that eats secondary consumers
Trophic levels
The successive levels of organisms consuming one another
Food chain
The sequence of consumption from producers through teritary consumers
Scavenger
An organism that consumes dead animals
Detritivore
An organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissues and waste products into smaller particles.
Decomposers
Fungi and bacteria that complete the breakdown process by converting organic matter into small elements and molecules that can be recycled back into the ecosystem.
Ecological efficiency
The proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another.
The 10% rule
Of the total biomass available at a given trophic level, only about 10% can be converted into energy at the next higher trophic level
Trophic pyramid
A representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels.
Food web
A model of how energy and matter move through two or more interconnected food chains
Tragedy of the commons
The tendency of a shared, limited resource to become depleted if it is not regulated in some way
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