APES unit 1 vocab

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 — referred 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 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.

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 biome

A geographic region of land categorized by a particular combination of average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and distinctive plant growth forms.

Aquatic biome

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.

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.

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 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 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 involving cycles of biological, geological, and chemical processes.

Reservoirs

The components of the biogeochemical cycle that contain the matter, including air, water, and organisms.

Carbon cycle

The movement of carbon around the biosphere among reservoir sources and sinks.

Photosynthesis and respiration, exchange and sedimentation and burial, extraction and combustion

Aerobic respiration

The process by which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, carbon dioxide, and water.

Steady state

When a system’s inputs equal outputs, so that the system is not changing over time.

Greenhouse gases

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, nitrification, assimilation, mineralization/ammonification, denitrification

Nitrogen fixation

The process that converts nitrogen gas in the atmosphere (N2) into forms of nitrogen that plants and algae can use.

Nitrification

The conversion of ammonium (NH4) into nitrite (NO2) and then into nitrate (NO3).

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 compounds back into inorganic compounds, such as inorganic ammonium (NH4). Also known as ammonification.

Denitrification

The conversion of nitrate in a series of steps into the gases nitrous oxide 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 phosphorus around the biosphere among reservoir sources and sinks.

Assimilation and Mineralization, sedimentation and geological uplift and weathering

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 photosynthesis.

Evapotranspiration

The combined amount of evaporation and transpiration.

Producers

Plants, algae, and some bacteria that use the Sun’s energy to produce usable forms of energy, such as sugars. Also known as autotrophs.

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 photosynthesis 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.

Amount of energy

Trophic levels

The successive levels of organisms consuming one another.

Detritivore

An organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissues and waste products into smaller particles.

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 percent 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.