APES Unit 3 Review

These flashcards cover key concepts related to terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity, including factors influencing weather and climate, different biome characteristics, and the importance of aquatic life zones.

The African Savanna is characterized by __.

scattered trees, warm temperatures, and alternating dry and wet seasons.

Key factors influencing weather include and .

moving masses of warm and cold air; atmospheric pressure changes.

Weather is defined as the __ of the lower atmosphere in a given area at a specific time.

set of physical conditions.

A warm front is the boundary between an advancing warm air mass and a __ air mass.

cooler.

El Niño allows warmer waters of the western Pacific to move towards __'s coast.

South America.

La Niña cools some surface coastal waters and can lead to more __ in the Atlantic Ocean.

hurricanes.

Tornadoes form when a large dry cold front meets a large mass of __ air.

humid.

Tropical cyclones are spawned from low pressure cells of air over __.

warm tropical seas.

Key factors that influence an area’s climate include incoming solar energy and __.

global patterns of air and water movement.

Climate is a general pattern of atmospheric conditions that spans to .

decades; years.

The tilt of the earth’s axis leads to __ changes.

seasonal.

The Coriolis effect deflects air flowing away from the equator to the __.

east.

A greenhouse gas is a gas in the troposphere that contributes to the __ effect.

greenhouse.

The rain shadow effect leads to the formation of __ on the leeward side of a mountain range.

deserts.

Deserts, grasslands, and forests can be categorized as tropical, __, or cold based on climate.

temperate.

Savannas contain scattered clumps of trees and have __ temperatures year round.

warm.

In tropical deserts, there is not much precipitation and the climate is primarily __.

dry.

Coral reefs are massive colonies of __ that secrete a stony substance for protection.

polyps.

Aquatic life zones can be classified into saltwater and __ parts of the biosphere.

freshwater.

Salinity is measured in the amount of __ in a given volume of water.

salts.

Nekton refers to strong swimming consumers such as __.

turtles.

The three major life zones of an ocean are coastal, __, and __.

pelagic; ocean bottom.

Cultural eutrophication occurs when a freshwater system receives an influx of __ from surrounding watersheds.

nutrients.