APES Terms

Predation

One organism hunts, kills, and consumes another organism.

Competition

Two or more organisms compete for the same resources such as food, water, or shelter.

Mutualism

A relationship where both organisms benefit.

Commensalism

A relationship where one organism benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped.

Parasitism

A relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of the other organism.

Ecosystem

The interaction of the living and nonliving things in a specific area.

Biome

An area that shares an average yearly temperature and precipitation pattern.

Reservoirs

Things that temporarily store matter

Sources

Processes that move matter around between reservoirs.

Sinks

Reservoirs that store more matter than they give off

Respiration

Returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as plants and animals break down glucose to use for energy.

Nitrogen Fixation

Converts biologically unavailable nitrogen gas into biologically available forms like ammonia and nitrate

Water Cycle

The movement of water driven by the suns energy

Primary Productivity

The rate at which plants in an area convert sunlight into glucose or plant tissue.

Trophic Pyramid

Shows how much energy flows through different levels in a food chain.

Affluence

The average consumption rate of individuals within a population.

IMR

Infant Mortality Rate

Species Diversity

Diversity of different types of organisms found in an ecosystem

Species Evenness

How similar the population sizes of the different species in an ecosystem are

Ecosystem Services

Things natural ecosystems do that have financial value to humans

Provisioning Services

Things directly provided to us by nature like timber

Supporting Services

Process is done by ecosystems that support a valuable human action like bees pollinating farmers crops

Regulating Services

Ecosystem stabilize climate or other conditions

Cultural Services

Recreational or intellectual benefits we gain from nature

Ecological Tolerance

Range of conditions that an organism can tolerate before serious damage or death occurs

Periodic events

Happen with a regular frequency

Episodic events

Less regular than periodic events but occur with some frequency (hurricanes and forest fires)

Keystone species

A species so important to an ecosystem that its removal causes high ecosystem instability or even collapse

Denitrification

The process by which bacteria convert nitrates in the soil back into nitrogen gas, thus completing the nitrogen cycle.

Carbon Cycle

Process where carbon moves through photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and combustion

Secondary Pollutants

Pollutants that are not emitted directly but form when primary pollutants react in the atmosphere like ozone or acid rain

Primary Pollutants

Substances emitted directly into the air that can cause harm, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.

Cogeneration

the simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from the same energy source.

Specialist Species

Species that are adapted to specific environmental conditions and have narrow ecological niches.

Generalist Species

Species that can thrive in various environmental conditions and have broad ecological niches.

Biotic potential

Maximum number of offspring a species can produce

Weathering

The process of breaking down rocks into smaller particles through physical, chemical, or biological means.

Erosion

The process by which soil and rock are removed from one location and transported to another, often by wind, water, or ice.

Insolation

Amount of solar radiation an area receives.

Rainshadow Effect

A climatic phenomenon that occurs when moist air rises over a mountain range, leading to precipitation on the windward side and a dry area on the leeward side.