AP Environmental Science Flashcards

Use these flashcards to study key vocabulary terms from the AP Environmental Science course.

Ecology

The scientific study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment

Mutualism

Mutual relation (bees and flowers, bees get nectar, flowers get pollinated / clown fish in protective tentacles of sea anemones, clown fish gets shelter, anemones get cleaned)

Commensalism

One benefits (birds nesting on trees / remora fish attach onto sharks gets transported and get food scraps)

Parasitism

One benefits however the other doesn’t (Ticks on dogs / Head lice on humans)

Competition

Can be with different species or within the same species

Intraspecific competition

When it’s within a species

Detritivores

Heterotrophic animals that eat dead and decaying organic matter, or detritus, and recycle it back into the ecosystem as nutrients and energy.

Nutrient cycle

The movement of essential elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon through an ecosystem

Indicator species

A species that is particularly sensitive to environmental changes and can be used to monitor ecosystem health

Climograph

A graphical representation of a location's basic climate

Terrestrial Biomes

A large geographic area on land with a specific climate and distinct plant and animal communities

Permafrost

Permanently frozen ground, primarily found in the tundra biome

Canopy

The uppermost layer of leaves in a forest, particularly dense in tropical rainforests

Deciduous

Trees that shed their leaves seasonally, common in temperate forests.

Coniferous

Evergreen trees with needle-like leaves, characteristic of boreal forests.

Eutrophication

The gradual increase in the concentration of phosphorus, nitrogen, and other plant nutrients in an aging aquatic ecosystem such as a lake.

Estuary

A coastal area where freshwater and saltwater mix, creating a unique aquatic environment

Intertidal zone

The shallow area along a coastline that is exposed during low tide and submerged during high tide

Benthic zone

The bottom layer of any aquatic biome, where organisms live on the sediment

Pelagic zone

The open water column of the ocean, away from the shoreline and seafloor

Littoral zone

The shallow area near the shore of a lake or pond, where most photosynthesis occurs

Aphotic zone

The deep water region of an aquatic biome where sunlight cannot reach, preventing photosynthesis

Photic zone

The upper layer of water where sunlight penetrates enough for photosynthesis to occur

Plankton

Tiny organisms, including phytoplankton (algae) and zooplankton (small animals), that drift in the water column

Combustion

The burning of fossil fuels, which releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Biomass

The total mass of living organisms in an ecosystem, which represents stored carbon

Carbon cycle

The movement of atoms and molecules containing the element carbon between sources and sinks.

Nitrogen cycle

The movement of atoms and molecules containing the element nitrogen between sources and sinks.

Limiting factor

A resource that is scarces in an ecosystem, but it’s vital to its functioning.

Phosphorus cycle

The movement of atoms and molecules containing the element phosphorus between sources and sinks

Phosphate ions

The form of phosphorus that plants can absorb from the soil

Eutrophication

Excessive algal growth caused by high levels of phosphorus in water bodies

Hydrologic Cycles

It’s the movement of water in various solid, liquid and gaseous phases between sources and sinks.

Sublimation

The conversion between the solid and the gaseous phases of matter, with no intermediate liquid stage ( Ex. Dry ice )

Primary productivity

How solar energy is acquired and transferred by living organisms

Food web and chain

Shows how matter and energy flow through an ecosystem, from organisms to organisms.

Genetic Diversity

The diversity in a species. ( Humans have different races)

Species diversity

The measurement of all the different species. ( Star fish, fish, Coral )

Habitat Diversity

The different ecosystem/Habitat types on land and water.

Species Richness

The number of all the different species in a community.

Species Evenness

The measure of the evenness how evenly species are distributed in a community.

Anthropogenic

human influenced or influenced by humans that can disrupt the ecosystem services, resulting in economic and ecological consequences.

Island biography

Study of ecological relations and community structures in islands

Ecological Tolerance

Environmental conditions are what determine the range of tolerance for an organism. ( Temperature, salinity, sunlight ) which can tell how long the species can endure it until they die or get injury.

Natural Disruption

Natural disturbances often effects the structure and function of ecosystem

Primarily succession

An area with just rocks, moss and lichen seed is often carried by the wind it adapts to the rock and grows into the area resulting in it to break down into soil.

Generalists

Live in wide variety of different environments

R-selected

Many offspring, little to no care

Carrying Capacity (k)

Highest pop. size an ecosystem can support based on limiting resources

Overshoot

Population exceeds carrying capacity.

Die-off

sharp decrease in pop. size when resource depletion (overshoot) leads to many individuals dying

Size (N)

total # of individuals in a given area at a given time

Density

of individuals/area

Age cohort

Groups of individuals all born within the same time period

Demographics Transition

A model used to show birth rate, death rate, total pop

Convergent plate boundary

Colliding to one another

Transform fault plate boundary ( Strike-slip )

Slide onto one another in opposite directions

Parent material

The original rock that breaks down and becomes the material for soil.

Soil texture

Depending on the sizes of the soils particle sizes ( sand, silt, clay, ) the characteristics of are determined. Most soil are a combination of all three.

Porosity

The amount of empty space, pore space

Trace gasses

tends to contain from the most to least Argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, krypton, hydrogen gas, and water vapor. ( At, CO, Ne, He, CH, Kr, H, H2O)

Greenhouses gases

Gasses that capture the sun radiation allowing to warm the earth's atmosphere

Global wind patterns

Air moves out from 30 degrees to 0 and 60 since it’s high pressure and low pressure at 0 and 60.

Gyres

Large ocean circulation pattern that occurs due to wind patterns

Ecological footprint

Measure of how much area is required to maintain a person and its measured by 5 catorgies.

Tragedy of the Commons

Individuals will use shared resources in their own self-interest rather than within the common good resulting in the depletion of resources.

Sustainability

To use and maintain the resource in a moderate way in order for future generation

meat production

is the raising of animal (livestock) for the consumption for human

CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations)

The raising of animal (livestock) for the consumption for human

IS the mass framing of fish’s in order to sell to consumer, (rising sea life underwater)

aquaculture

Sustainable Forestry

refers to a collection of methods that attempt to mitigate the human impact of harvesting trees and using forest resources

nonrenewable

Is resource that cant be easily replaced

renewable

Not depletable