Ultimate AP Enviornmental Science Vocabulary

All terms taken from the official textbook.

Fracking

A method of oil and gas extraction that uses high-pressure fluids to force open cracks in rocks deep underground.

Ecosystem

A particular location on Earth with interacting biotic and abiotic components.

Ecosystem Service

The processes which life supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced.

Enviornmental Indicator

An indicatory that describes the current state of an environment system.

Five Key Global Indicators

Biological diversity, Food production, Average global surface temapture and CO2 concentration, Human population, Resource depletion.

Biodiversity

The diversity of life forms in an environment.

Genetic Diversity

A measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population.

Species Diversity

The number of species in a region or in a particular type of habitat.

Speciation

The evolution of new species.

Backround Extinction Rate

The average rate at which species become extinct over the long term.

Anthropogenic

Derived from human activities.

Sustainability

Living on Earth in a way that allows Humans to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources.

Ecological Footprint

A measure of how much an individual consumes, expressed in an area of land.

Replication

The data collection procedure of taking repeated measurements

Accuracy

How close a measured value is to the actual or true value.

Precision

How close the repeated measurements of a sample are to one another.

Uncertainty

An estimate of how much a measured or calculated value differs from a true value.

Natural Experiment

A natural event that acts as an experimental treatment in an ecosystem.

Energy

The ability to do work or transfer heat.

Joule

The amount of energy used when a 1-watt electrical device is turned on for 1 second.

Electromagnetic Radiation

Form of energy emitted by the sun that includes visible light, ultraviolet light and infrared energy.

Potential Energy

Stored energy that has not been released.

Chemical Energy

Potential energy stored in chemical bonds.

Kinetic Energy

The energy of motion.

First Law of Thermodynamics

A physical law that states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but can change from one form to another.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The physical law stating that when energy is transformed, the quantity of energy remains the same, but it’s ability to do work diminishes.

Open System

A system in which exchanges of matter occur across system boundaries.

Closed System

A system in which matter and energy exchanges do not occur across boundaries.

Input

An addition to a system

Output

A loss from a system.

Negative Feedback Loop

A feedback loop in which a system responds to a change by returning to it’s original state, or by decreasing the rate at which the change is occurring.

Positive Feedback Loop

A feedback loop in which hage in a system is amplified.

Biosphere

The reigion of our planet where life resides, the combination of all ecosystems on Earth.

Autotroph

An organism that uses the energy of the Sun to produce usable forms of energy.

Cellular Respiration

The process by which cells unclock the energy of chemical compounds.

Anaerobic Respiration

The process by which cells convert glucose into energy in the absence of oxygen.

Aerobic Respiration

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

Heterotroph

An organism that is incapable of photosynthesis and must obtain its energy by consuming other organisms.

Herbivore

A consumer that eats producers, also known as primary consumers.

Carnivore

A consumer that eats other consumers.

Secondary Consumer

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 consumptopm from producers though tertiary consumers.

Food Web

A model of how energy and matter move between trophic levels.

Scavenger

An organism that consumes dead animals

Detritvore

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

Decomposer

Fungi and bacteria that converts organic matter into small elements and molecules that can be recycled back into the ecosystem.

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 Prodcutivty (NPP)

The energy captured by procurers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire.

Biomass

The total mass of all living matter in a specfic area.

Ecological Efficiency

The proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another.

Trophic Pyramid

A representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy amount trophic levels.

Biogeochemical Cycles

The movements of matter within and between ecosystems.

The Hydrologic Cycle

The movement of water through the biosphere.

Transpiration

The release of water from leaves during photosynthesis.

Evapotranspiration

The combined amount of evaporation and transpiration.

Runoff

Water that moves across the land surface and into streams and rivers.

Infilation

From precipitation that percolates through the soil.

Respiration

The process by which organisms exchange gases, specifically taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide,

Exchange

CO2 in the atmosphere and CO2 dissolved in water are constantly exchanged.

Sedimentation

The process by which organisms exchange gases, specifically taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide,

Burial

The process where organic carbon is permanently removed from the Earth's surface and stored in sediments.

Extraction

The process of extracting fossil fuels so they can be combusted, bringing carbon back up to the Earths surface.

Combustion

Fossil fuels and plant matter are converted into CO2.

Limiting Nutrient

A nutrient required or the growth of an organism but available in a lower quantiy than other nutrients.

Nitrogen cycle

The movement of nitrogen around the biosphere.

Nitrogen Fixation

A process by which some organisms can convert nitrogen gas molecules directly into Ammonia.

Nitrification

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

Assimilation

The process by which producers incorporate elements 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 it into inorganic compounds.

Ammonification

The process by which fungal and bacterial decomposers break down the organic nitrogen found in dead bodies and waste products and convert it into inorganic ammonium (NH4)

Denirification

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.

Leaching

The tranportation of dissolved molecules through the soil via groundwater.

The Phosphrus Cycle

The movement of phosphorus around the biosphere.

Weathering

Rocks containing phosphorus, like phosphate rocks, are weathered by rain and other natural processes, releasing phosphate ions into the soil and water.

Transfer

Animals obtain phosphorus by consuming plants or other animals

Decomposition

When plants and animals die or excrete waste, decomposers break down their organic matter, releasing phosphorus back into the soil as inorganic phosphate.

Sedimentation / Rock Formation

Some phosphorus leaches into waterways and eventually ends up in sediments, where it can be incorporated into new rocks over long periods.

Uplift

Some phosphorus leaches into waterways and eventually ends up in sediments, where it can be incorporated into new rocks over long periods.

Algal Bloom

A rapid increase in the algal production of a waterway.

Watershed

All land in a given landscape that drains into a particular stream, river or lake.

Restoration Ecology

The study and implementation of restoring damaged ecosystems.

Intermediate Distrubance Hypothesis

The hypothesis that ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance are more diverse than those with high or low levels.

Climate

The average weaher that occurs in a given region over a long period of time.

Troposphere

A layer of the atmosphere closest to the surface of the earth. (Where weather occurs)

Stratosphere

The layer of the atmosphere above the trophosphere which extends 10-31 miles above the surface of the Earth.

Mesosphere

The middle layer of Earth’s atmosphere, the coldest layer.

Thermosphere

The layer above the mesosphere and below the exosphere, known for being the warmest layer.

Exosphere

The outermost layer of a planet’s atmosphere, separating it from outer space.

Albedo

The percentage of incoming sunlight reflected from a surface.aru