UNIT 1 - AP Environmental Science

APES Unit 1 vocab words

Community ecology

The study of interactions among species.

Symbiosis

Two species living in 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 divide a resource based on differences in their behavior or morphology.

Predation

An interaction in which one animal typically kills and consumes another animal.

Parasitoids

A specialized type of predator that lays eggs inside other organisms—referred to as its host.

Parasitism

An interaction in which one organism lives on or in another organism, referred to as the host.

Pathogens

A parasite that causes diseases 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 and water into glucose and oxygen.

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 or millions of years.

Exotic species

A species living outside its historical range. Also known as alien species.

Invasive species

A species that spreads rapidly across large areas and causes harm.

Biome

The plants and animals that are found in a particular region of the world.

Terrestrial biomes

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 - a subset of a biome.

Tundra

A cold and treeless biome with low-growing vegetation.

Permafrost

An impermeable, permanently frozen layer of soil.

Taiga

A forest biome made up primarily of coniferous evergreen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons. Also known as boreal forest.

Temperate rainforest

A coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation.

Temperate seasonal forest

A biome with warm summers and cold winters with over 1 m (39 inches) of annual precipitation.

Shrubland

A biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Also known as woodland.

Temperate grassland

A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, and hot, dry summers. Also known as cold desert.

Tropical rainforest

A warm and wet biome found between 20° N and 20° S of the equator, with little seasonal temperature variation and high precipitation.

Savanna

A biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons. Also known as tropical seasonal forest.

Hot desert

A biome located at roughly 30° N and 30° S, and characterized by hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation. Also known as subtropical deserts.

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 wetlands

An aquatic biome that is submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough to support emergent vegetation.

Estuaries

An area along the coast where the fresh water of rivers mixes with salt water from the ocean.

Salt marshes

Found along the coast in temperate climates, a marsh containing nonwoody emergent vegetation.

Mangrove swamps

A swamp that occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts, and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water.

Intertidal zone

The narrow band of coastline that exists between the levels of high tide and low tide.

Coral reefs

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.