Ap Environmental Science Exam

Symbiosis

any type of close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms of the same or different species

Amensalism

The interaction between two species whereby one species suffers and the other species is not affected.

Commensalism

The interaction between two species whereby one organism benefits and the other species is not affected.

Opportunistic Predators

Organisms that adapt their diet based on the availability and ease of capture of their prey

Specialist predators

organisms that are highly adept at hunting and consuming a specific prey species, or even just a specific life stage of that species.

Law of Tolerance

the existence, abundance, and distribution of species depend on the tolerance level of each species to both physical and chemical factors.

Limiting Factor

Any abiotic factor that limits or prevents the growth of a population.

Morphological Partitioning

a type of niche partitioning where species evolve different physical characteristics, like body size or beak shape, to reduce competition for resources

Spatial Partitioning

When competing species use the same resource by occupying different areas or habitats within the range of occurrence of the resource

Temporal Partitioning

When two species eliminate direct competition by utilizing the same resource at different times

Biomes

Major regional or global biotic communities characterized by dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climates

Deserts

A region characterized by extremely low precipitation

Arctic tundra

characterized by extremely cold temperatures, short growing seasons, permafrost, and treeless plains

Aestivation

summer hibernation

Tropical Rainforests

Lush, evergreen forests found in warm, humid regions near the equator, characterized by tall trees, abundant rainfall, and incredible biodiversity.

Temperate Deciduous Forests

Vibrant ecosystems found in mid-latitude regions around the world, and characterized by distinct seasonal changes, with green foliage in spring and summer and display of colors and leaf loss in autumn.

Temperate Coniferous Forest

vast, evergreen ecosystems found in the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and characterized by tall, cone-bearing trees that remain green throughout the year, even during harsh winters. also known as southern taiga/boreal forests

Taiga

Largest terrestrial biome; found in northern Eurasia, North America, Scandinavia, and two-thirds of Siberia.

Southern Taiga (Boreal Forest)

Consists primarily of cold-tolerant evergreen conifers with needle-like leaves, such as pines, spruces, and larches.

Northern Taiga

Environment that gets more barren as it approaches the tree line and the tundra biome.

Grasslands

Lands dominated by grasses rather than by large shrubs or trees.

Savannas

Grasslands with scattered individual trees and cover almost half the surface of Africa and large areas of Australia, South America, and India.

Temperate Grasslands

Environment where grasses are the dominant vegetation, while trees and large shrubs are absent.

Tundra

Environment that has extremely low temperatures, low biotic diversity, and simple vegetation structure.

Arctic tundra

A treeless biome found in the far northern regions of the Earth, primarily encircling the Arctic Ocean characterized by extremely cold temperatures, short growing seasons, permafrost (permanently frozen ground), and sparse vegetation.

Permafrost

Layer of permanently frozen subsoil.

Alpine tundra

A treeless biome found at high elevations above the treeline, typically on mountain ranges around the world

Antarctica

Continent with the coldest climate on Earth.

Convection

The circular motion that occurs when warmer air or liquid rises, while the cooler air or liquid sinks.

Thermohaline currents

Drive a conveyor belt of ocean water that moves constantly, unlike most surface currents, which are driven by winds.

Photic Zone

The uppermost layer of water in a lake or ocean that is exposed to sunlight down to the depth where 1% of surface sunlight is available.

Benthic Zone

The bottom of a lake where organisms can tolerate cool temperatures and low oxygen levels.

Limnetic Zone

A well-lit, open surface water, farther from shore, extends to a depth penetrated by light, occupied by phytoplankton, zooplankton, and higher animals; produces food and oxygen that supports most of a lake’s consumers

Littoral Zone

Ecological zone found in coastal environments where land and water meet

Profundal Zone

Deepest layer of freshwater ecosystems that lies below the photic zone (where sunlight penetrates) and is characterized by cold temperatures, darkness, and low oxygen levels.

Stratification

Formation of distinct layers within a body of water with varying densities due to differences in temperature and salinity

Wetlands

Areas that are covered with water at some point in the year and that support aquatic plants.

Source Zone

Zone that contains headwaters or headwater streams and often begins as springs or snowmelt of cold, clear water with little sediment and relatively few nutrients.

Transition Zone

Zone that contains slower, warmer, wider, and lower-elevation moving streams, which eventually join to form tributaries.

Floodplain Zone

Flat area of land adjacent to a river, stream, or other body of water that is susceptible to flooding during periods of high water levels.

Carbon

fundamental element exchanged among the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere and is the basic building block of life and found in carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Ocean Acidification

The ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, disrupting the creation of coral reefs and the viability of externally fertilized egg cells; Occurs when atmospheric carbon dioxide reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid,

Nitrogen

Element that takes up 78% of the atmosphere. Needed for photosynthesis

Nitrogen Cycle

A biogeochemical process through which nitrogen is converted into many forms, consecutively passing from the atmosphere to the soil to organism and back into the atmosphere

Nitrogen Fixation

When atmospheric nitrogen is converted into ammonia (NH3) or nitrate ions (NO3–), which are biologically usable forms of nitrogen.

process of the nitrogen cycle

1. nitrogen fixation

2. nitrification

3. assimilation

4. ammonification

5. denitrification

Rhizobium

A nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Nitrification

When ammonia (NH3) is converted to nitrite (NO2–) and nitrate (NO3–), which are the most useful forms of nitrogen to plants.

Assimilation

When plants absorb ammonia (NH3), ammonium ions (NH4+), and nitrate ions (NO3–) through their roots.

Ammonification

When decomposing bacteria convert dead organisms and wastes, which include nitrates, uric acid, proteins, and nucleic acids, to ammonia (NH3) and ammonium ions (NH4+)—biologically useful forms.

Denitrification

When anaerobic bacteria convert ammonia into nitrites (NO2–), nitrates (NO3–), nitrogen gas (N2), and nitrous oxide (N2O) to continue the cycle.

Nitrous oxide (N2O)

A greenhouse gas breaks down and destroys atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere.

Phosphorus

Element essential for the production of nucleotides, ATP, fats in cell membranes, bones, teeth, and shells.

Water cycle

the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth

Dynamic Equilibrium

When the rate of evaporation equals the rate of precipitation.

Condensation

The conversion of a vapor or gas to a liquid

Evaporation

The process of turning from a liquid into vapor

Evapotranspiration

The process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants

Infiltration

The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil

Runoff

Part of the water cycle that flows over land as surface water instead of being absorbed into groundwater or evaporating

Capillary Action

A result of hydrogen bonding, helps tree roots take up water, allowing trees to grow as large as they do.

Aquifer

an underground layer of rock or sediment that holds and allows the movement of groundwater

Confined “artesian well” aquifer

An aquifer below the land surface that is saturated with water.

Recharge zone

The surface area above an aquifer that supplies water to the aquifer

Unsaturated zone

The zone immediately below the land surface where the open spaces in the soil contain both water and air, but are not totally saturated with water

Water table

The boundary between the saturated zone (where groundwater fills all the spaces between soil and rock) and the unsaturated zone (where air and water fill the spaces) underground

Land subsidence

The sinking of land that results from groundwater extraction.

Saltwater intrusion

The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to contamination.

Photosynthesis

6CO2+6H2O+sunlight→C6H12O6+6O2

chlorophyll

A pigment molecule found within chloroplasts

Chloroplasts

specialized organelles in plant cells responsible for capturing energy from sunlight

Trophic Level

The position an organism occupies in a food chain; the number of steps it takes from the chain's start.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

States that as energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted.

Entropy

A natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate from an ordered state into a more disordered state.

Heterotrophs

Organisms dependent on photosynthetic organisms.

Cellular Respiration

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy

10% Rule

States that energy is lost mostly as heat from one stage to the next.

Primary Productivity

autotrophs converts light energy to chemical energy

Secondary Productivity

heterotrophs convert chemical energy to their own food

Secondary production

The generation of biomass by heterotrophic consumers in a system

Gross primary production (GPP)

The rate at which plants capture and fix a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time.

Net primary production (NPP)

The remaining fixed energy is the rate at which all the plants in an ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy.

Biodiversity

The variability among species, between species, and of ecosystems

Population Bottleneck

Large reduction in the size of a single population due to a catastrophic environmental event

Minimum Viable Population Size

The number of individuals remaining after the bottleneck and how that compares to the smallest possible size at which a population can exist without facing extinction from a natural disaster

Generalist Species

Species that live in different types of environments and have varied diets

Specialist Species

Species that require unique resources and often have a very limited diet

Species Richness

The number of different species (diversity) represented in an ecological community or region

Island Biogeography

Examining the factors that affect the richness and diversity of species living in these isolated natural communities

Theory of Island Biogeography

Proposes that the number of species found on an "island" is determined by immigration and extinction of isolated populations

Degree of Isolation

Distance to the nearest island or mainland

Habitat Fragmentation

When a habitat is broken into pieces by development, industry, logging, roads, etc., and can cause an edge effect

Episodic Process

Occurring occasionally and at irregular intervals

Periodic Process

Occurring at repeated intervals

Random Process

Lacking a regular pattern

Adaptation

The biological mechanism by which organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment

Ecological succession

The gradual and orderly process of ecosystem development brought about by changes in community composition and the production of a climax community and describes the changes in an ecosystem through time and disturbance

Facilitation

When one species modifies an environment to the extent that it meets the needs of another species

Inhibition

When one species modifies the environment to an extent that is not suitable for another species

Tolerance

When species are not affected by the presence of other species