ap semester 1

Carrying Capacity

Carrying Capacity

Max of pop or species that can be maintained by habitat/ecosystem w/o degrading that space. Maintains abundance for future.

Independent variable

Manipulated. That is believed to effect outcome.

Dependent variable

Changes in response to independent.

Manipulative experiments

Independent variable is changed/effect on dependent variable is measured. (Cause and effect)

Accuracy

How close it is to the true value. (Unknown)

Uncertainty error

All measurements are approximations and have some degree of uncertainty.

Precision

The ability of a measurement to be consistently reproduced. Shows exactness/digits. Measured with standard deviation.

Quantities data

Numbers. Statistics.

Qualitative data

Observations. Provides insight.

Natural (correlative) experiments

Done when you cannot do manipulative experiments. Does not necessarily show cause and effect.

Bias

Scientists manipulate true data with what they would have wanted to data to be.

Sustainability

Ensures that future generations will have an equal opportunity to the resources our planet offers.

Clumped dist.

Most common dist; caused by limited resources.

Random dist.

Equal dist. of resources.

Uniform dist.

Competition for limited resource dist.

J curve

Exponential growth. Biotic potential. Rapid pop growth/limited resources.

S curve

Logistic growth. Resources become limited. Growth rate slows and levels.

K species

Small # of large offspring. Invested parental care. Specialized.

r species

Large # of small offspring. Little parental care. Opportunist.

Generalist

Opportunist. Can live in any habitat.

Specialist

Need special habitats.

Biological potential

Max reproduction capacity of a pop under infinite resources.

Biotic

Living; predators, human competition.

Abiotic

Nonliving. Sunlight, water, pollution.

Type 1 survivorship curve

Tend to live to an old age. (Late loss)

Type 2 survivorship curve.

Die at all ages (constant loss)

Type 3 survivorship curve

Most die young (early loss)

Demography

The study of populations, especially their patterns in space and time

Nitrogen fixation

The process of converting inorganic, molecular nitrogen in the atmosphere to ammonia.

Denitrification

The process of releasing fixed nitrogen back to molecular nitrogen

Assimilation

The process of absorbing nitrogen

Nitrification

Bacteria conver NH4 to Nitrate NO3

Guano

Important source of phosphorus. Bird poop

Food chain/web

Show how energy/nutrients cycle in the ecosystem

Autotroph

1st level producers

Heterotrophs

Organisms that cannot make their own food from inorganic chemicals and a source of energy therefore live by feeding on other organisms.

Herbivore

Organism that feeds on an Autotroph

Carnivore

Organism that feed on other live organisms (animals eat animals)

Omnivore

Eat both plants and animals

Tropic level

In an ecological community, all the organisms that are the same number of food chain steps from the primary source of energy.

Primary succession

The initial establishment and development of an ecosystem.

Secondary succession

The reestablishment of an ecosystem where there are remnants of previous biological community.

Population

Group of individuals of the same species living in the same area or interbreeding and sharing genetic info.

Ecosystem

Sustains life. An ecological community and its local, nonbiological community.

Keystone species

A species that has a large effect on its community or ecosystem so that its removal or addition to the community leads to major changes in many or all species.

Watershed

An area of land that forms the drainage of a stream or river.

Gene pool

Complete set of alleles in a population.

Bottleneck effect

Sudden reductions in a population size that reduces variety in a gene pool.

Species diversity

Biological diversity the variety of life forms. The # of species in an area.

Species richness

of species

Species evenness

The relative abundance of species

Species dominance

The most abundant species

Indicator species

Any biological species that defines a trait or characteristic of the environment. (Barn owls)

Endemic species

found only in specific locations/habitats. (Rare)

Cosmopolitan species

Found in many locations. (World wide)

Climate

Regions average weather conditions over a long time

Convection cells

Heat and moisture distributed over the earths surface by vertical currents form 6 giant convection cells at different latitudes.

Rain shadow

Exist on the leeward side of mountains.

Biome

Large terrestrial regions characterized by similar climate, soil, plants, and animals. Carries ecosystems.

Deserts

Evaporation exceeds precipitation. 30*

Grasslands

Areas too moist for deserts and too dry for forests.

Scrub

Dry, moderate temperature. Periodic fires.

Tundra

60* lat. polar grassland. Large seasonal temp difference and dry.

Tiaga/Boreal

Cold wet forests dominated by conifers. 60* lat.

Temperate rain forests

Coastal areas support huge, evergreen trees in a cool moist environment. (Issue logging)

Agroforestry

Crops and trees are grown together

Intercropping

Two or more different crops grown at the same time in a plot

Poly culture

Multiple crops grown together

Monoculture

One crop grown in mass

Undernourishment

Not enough food

Malnutrition

Lacking sufficient nutrients

Green revolution

High input ag has produced more crops per unit of land. More pesticides.

Organic agriculture

Follows strict rules. From plant and animal, fresh materials.

Carbon silicate cycle

Provides important negative feedback mechanisms that control the temp of the atmosphere.

Mutation

Chemical change in a DNA molecule

Ecological niche

A species profession. A set of environmental conditions within which a species can persist.

Plantation

Managed forests in which a single species is planted in straight rows and harvested at regular intervals.

Tropical rainforest

Sufficient rain. Impacts: deforestation and fragmentation

Carbon cycle

Element that anchors all. Cycle linked to oxygen/hydrogen.

Nitrogen cycle

Responsible for moving important nitrogen components through the biosphere and other earth systems.

Convergent

Two plates coming together

Divergent

Spreading apart

Transform

One plate slides past another

Plates include the

Crust and mantle

Igneous rock

Internal heat from the tectonic cycle produced molten near the surface

Sedimentary rock

Physical weathering makes smaller particles of rocks from bigger ones

Metamorphic rock

After sedimentary rocks are buried to sufficient depths, they may be altered by heat, pressure of chemically.

ecology

the study of living things

environmental science

the study of how we interact with our environment

positive feedback

situation in which change in certain direction provides info that causes system to change further in same direction (giving birth)

negative feedback loop

change in certain direction that provides system to change in less in that direction (ac)

homeostasis

maintenance of favorable internal conditions

synergy

result when two people work together to accomplish a task

70/percent of growth rate

equation for doubling time

(births+immigration) - (death+emigration)

growth rate formula

china and india

2 countries with largest populations

hunting and gathering nomads

1st agricultural communities

kinetic energy

energy that matter has because of its mass and speed or velocity (ex: heat)

potential energy

energy stored in an object because of the position or position of its parts (rock in hand)

1st law of thermodynamics

law that states "in all physical and chemical changes energy is neither created nor destroyed but may be converted to different forms of ea." (ex:nature)