AP Environmental Science - Natural Disruptions to Ecosystems

Vocabulary flashcards defining key concepts and terms related to natural ecosystem disruptions, climate shifts, sea level rise, and animal migration patterns.

Natural Disturbance

A natural event that disrupts the structure and/or function of an ecosystem by interrupting energy and matter cycling, displacing organisms, or reshaping and destroying habitats.

Periodic Event

A natural disturbance that occurs with a regular, somewhat predictable frequency, such as wet and dry seasons in the African savanna.

Episodic Event

A natural disturbance that occurs somewhat frequently, but without a strictly regular interval or absolute predictability, such as hurricanes, droughts, and fires.

Random Event

A natural disturbance that occurs without any seasonal pattern or predictable timing, despite its underlying cause being understood, such as earthquakes or asteroid impacts.

Eccentricity

A natural variation in Earth's orbit occurring every $100,000$ to $400,000$ years, causing the planet to move slightly closer to or further from the sun and contributing to long-term climate cycles.

Thermal Expansion

The increase in ocean volume and rise in sea level caused by water molecules spreading out as ocean temperatures increase.

Estuary Habitat

A brackish, coastal ecosystem of mixed salt and freshwater—such as salt marshes and mangroves—that can be flooded and altered by sea level rise, increasing water depth and salinity.

Migration Shift

A change in the timing or geographic patterns of animal movement due to environmental disruptions, such as birds migrating earlier in the year to align egg hatching with earlier caterpillar hatching dates.