AP Environmental Science Unit 1 Review

This goes over everything in unit 1 of AP environmental science. In this unit, its very similar to basic biology so its not too hard to understand! good luck on your test and study on!!

Ecosystem Structure

abiotic, biotic factors. Levels of organization, organism, species, population, community, and ecosystem

Abiotic factors

Non-living thing
Ex: Waters, soils, minerals in the soil,O2

Biotic Factors

Living things

Ex: Grasses, elephants

Levels of organization

Primary Producers, Primary Consumers, Secondary Consumers

Organism

An individual living thing that can react to stimuli, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis.

Species

A group of living organisms of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes.

Population

How many of one species of an organism.
Ex:Deer(how much of a deer is an organism in a population)

Community

Living things in an community. Groups of different species living together in a particular place with a potential for interacting with one another.
Example:Deer

Ecosystem

Living and non-living things
Example: Rock, deer

Roles in an ecosystem

Niches- specialist vs generalist
R vs K Selected Species, Keystone species, Invasive Species, Endangered species

Niches (Specialist vs Generalist)

Each species occupies a niche in the community.
A niche is the role that species play and includes the type of food it eats, where it lives, where it reproduces, and its relationships with other species.

Generalist

Can thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources. (Heterotroph)

Specialist

Only can range in few environments and has a limited diet.

Ecosystem Services

a) What products do we get from the healthy ecosystem?
b) What life functions we get from the healthy ecosystem?

Natural Selection

This is the way natural selection happens. Organisms with traits that make them more successful end up having more offspring, and those traits dominate in future generaions.

Evolution

Over a lon.g period of time, species differentiate and change in response to their environment. Eventually, new species are created

Food web structure

A web included with predators and preys

Tropic Levels

Energy Level(All energy comes from the Sun)
-Food Chain: Primary producers, Primary consumers, secondary consumers

Photosynthesis and Respiration

Photosynthesis: Plants get their energy from the sun.
Respiration: Humans breathe in CO2 and we breathe it out.

Biomass

The mass of the living thing

10% rule

As you go up, the food chain. 90% is lost and 10% goes up.
-On average pnly 10% of the energy from a lower level makes it to the level above.

Flow of energy

10% rule, photosynthesis and respiration, trophic levels, food web structure, biomagnification,

Biodiversity

Why is it valuable? Makes the ecosystem stronger. The richer it is, the higher the diversity is. Biodiversity contain species and genetic diversity.
Species diversity: The # of different types of species in an ecosystem.
Genetic Diversity: The variety of genetic diversity held within a species.
Species richness: The # of species
Species Eveness: The relative # of species

Indicator Species

Some species are sensitive to environmental change, and their presence or absence can tell about the environment.
Ex:If a frog is in a forest it means that it is healthy

Predation

When one prey attacks other animal and eats them.
-A way to avoid predators, animals camoflouge

Parasitism/Predation

Other benefits, the other loses.

Parasitism

An interaction in which one organism lives on or in another organism.
-Acts like a host(pathogen)=Cast diseases in their host= Bacteria, fungi, worms, etc

Competition

Neither organisms is happy about this

Mutualism

Both species benefit from each other

Foundation Species

A species eho activities changes in the habitat.
Ex: Beaver creating new dams in the river

Endangered Species

A species of an animal or plant that will become extinct.

Invasive Species

A species that was not originally a part of an ecosystem, but was brought in by humans and out-compete the native species.
Ex: Species coming and adapting to a new envrionment.