Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems - Flashcards APES

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