AP Environmental Science Study Guide Units 1-9

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering ecosystem structures, population dynamics, earth resources, energy consumption, and environmental pollution from AP Environmental Science Units 1-9.

Abiotic Components

The nonliving components of Earth, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.

Biotic Components

The living components of Earth, such as animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria, which form the biosphere.

Community

Populations of different species that occupy the same geographic area.

Ecological Niche

The role and position a species has in its environment, including how it uses resources, where it lives, and what it eats.

Resource Partitioning

Occurs when species can coexist and share resources without any conflict.

Predation

Occurs when one species feeds on another, driving changes in population size.

Mutualism

A symbiotic relationship where both organisms receive beneficial properties from the association.

Commensalism

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

Parasitism

A relationship where one organism benefits by harming the other organism.

Ecotones

A transitional area where two biomes meet.

Edge Effects

The characteristic of ecotones having a great amount of species diversity and biological density.

Bioenergetics

The study of how energy flows through living organisms.

Light-Dependent Reactions

The phase of photosynthesis that converts light energy to chemical energy using sunlight and $H_2O$ as reactants and producing $O_2$, $ATP$, and $NADPH$.

Light-Independent Reactions

The phase of photosynthesis that uses $ATP$ and $NADPH$ to build organic molecules from $CO_2$ to produce $C_6H_12O_6$.

Autotrophs

Organisms that produce complex organic compounds from simple substances in the environment; they serve as primary producers.

Heterotrophs

Organisms that consume other organisms for nutrients and food energy, as they cannot produce organic substances from inorganic ones.

Biological Extinction

The extermination of a species where no individuals are left on the planet.

Ecological Extinction

Occurs when so few individuals of a species remain that it can no longer perform its ecological function.

Commercial or Economic Extinction

A status where a few individuals exist, but the effort needed to locate and harvest them is not worth the expense.

Provisioning Services

Physical items obtained from the environment, such as food, raw materials, water, and medicinal resources.

Regulating Services

Benefits obtained from the regulating of ecosystems, such as pest control, water purification, and climate regulation.

Keystone Species

Species that maintain the biotic balance and contribute to diversity; their extinction leads to large changes in the ecosystem.

Primary Succession

Ecological succession that begins in a virtually lifeless area, such as below a retreating glacier.

Population Density

The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.

Rule of 70

A method to approximate population doubling time by dividing 70 by the current growth rate of the population.

R-selected Organisms

Organisms that reproduce early in life, have a high capacity for reproductive growth, and provide little to no care to offspring.

K-selected Organisms

Organisms that reproduce later in life, produce fewer offspring, and devote significant energy to nurturing them.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The number of children a woman in a given population will bear during her lifetime.

Replacement Birth Rate

The number of children a couple must have to replace themselves; worldwide this is slightly higher than $2$.

IPAT Model

A mathematical model where Total Impact ($I$) = Population ($P$) $\times$ Affluence ($A$) $\times$ Technology ($T$).

Desertification

Any human process that turns a vegetated environment into a desert-like landscape.

Soil Salinization

The process where the salt content in soil increases due to non-anthropogenic or anthropogenic influences.

Tectonic Plates

Parts of the lithosphere that float on the asthenosphere.

Subduction

A geological process where an older and denser plate sinks beneath a younger and lighter plate.

Troposphere

The atmospheric layer where weather occurs, containing $99\%$ of water vapor and clouds.

Estuaries

Sites where the sea extends inland to meet the mouth of a river; they are often rich in nutrients and species.

Igneous Rock

Rock formed when material is melted by heat and pressure below the crust, such as Basalt or Granite.

Monoculture

The practice of planting just one type of crop in a large area, which can leach soil of nutrients and decrease genetic diversity.

Green Revolution

A huge increase in worldwide agricultural productivity over the past 50 years due to mechanization, pesticides, and fertilizers.

The Tragedy of the Commons

A concept serving as a foundation for modern conservation regarding the shared use of resources.

Anthracite

The purest form of coal.

Fission

The energetic splitting of large atoms into two smaller atoms to release energy, used by all commercial nuclear power plants.

Biomass

A renewable energy source derived from wood, charcoal, or animal waste products.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

The amount of oxygen a quantity of water uses over a period of time at specific temperatures.

Eutrophication

A phenomenon in which a body of water becomes rich in nutrients, often leading to rapid algae growth and high BOD.

Secondary Pollutants

Primary pollutants that have undergone transformation in the presence of sunlight, water, or oxygen, such as ozone or sulfate.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCS)

Organic compounds that evaporate at typical atmospheric temperatures and act as precursors to ozone formation.

Carbon Sequestration

A technological method to reduce climate change by capturing and storing carbon dioxide.