AP Enviromental

poverty

condition where people are unable to meet their basic needs of adequate food. clothing or shelter.

renewable resources

Resource that can be replenished rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural processes. Trees, crops, animals, fresh clean water, clean air, and fertile soil are examples.

nonrenewable resources

Resource that exists in a fixed amount (stock) in various places in the earth's crust and has the potential for renewal by geological, physical, and chemical processes taking place over hundreds of millions to billions of years.

environmental sustainability

the ability to meet human needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

low developed country

a developing country with a low level of industrialization, high fertility and infant mortality rate, and a low per-capita income. Ex) Africa and Asia

highly developed countries

have complex industrialized bases, low population growth and high per-capita incomes. Ex) United States, Canada and Europe

people overpopulation

where there are too many people in a given area; the current problem in many developing countries.

consumption overpopulation

when each individual in a population consumes too large a share or resources; results in highly developed countries.

ecological footprint

the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply an area with resources and to absorb the waste and population produced by such resources.

inductive reasoning

begins with specific examples and seeks to draw a conclusion or discover a unifying rule on a basis of those examples. This provides new knowledge but is error prone.

deductive reasoning

operates from generalities to specifics and adds nothing new to the knowledge but makes a relationship among the data more obvious

tragedy of the commons

By Garret Hardin, the degradation of the renewable free-access resources

"If I do not use this resource, someone else will. The little bit I use or pollute is not enough to matter and such resources are renewable." Solution: -use free access resources at rates well below their estimated sustainable yields, reducing population, regulating access to resources, and convert free access resources to private ownership

ipat model

I=PxAxT

steps to addressing environmental problems

• Identifying potential environmental problem and collecting data to construct a model

• Risk analysis evaluates the potential effects of intervention

• Public education and involvement occur when the results of scientific assessment and risk analysis are placed in the public arena

• Political action is the implementation of a particular risk management strategy by elected officials

• Evaluation monitors the effects of the action taken

scientific method

• State problem or unanswered question

• Develop a hypothesis

• Design and perform an experiment to test hypothesis

• Analyze and interpret the data

• Share the conclusion with other scientist

ecology

is the study of the interactions among organisms and between organisms and their abiotic environment

population

is a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area at the same time

community

is a natural association that consist of all the populations of different species that live and interact together within an area at the same time

ecosystem

is a community and its physical environment

landscape

is a spatially heterogeneous region that includes several interacting ecosystems

biosphere

is the layer of earth containing all living organisms

photosynthesis

the biological process that captures light energy and transforms it into the chemical energy of organic molecules(such as glucose) which are manufactured from carbon dioxide and water.

6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy(sun) ----------> C6H12O6 + O2

cellular respiration

a process in which the energy of organic molecules is released with cells (photosynthesis formula backwards)

species

a group of similar organism that are able to interbreed with one another but unable to breed with other sorts of organisms

1st law of thermodynamics

energy cannot be created nor destroyed, although it can change from one form to another.

2nd law of thermodynamics

when energy is converted from one form to another, some of it is degraded into heat, a less unusable form that disperse into the environment.

producer

are the photosynthetic organisms that are potential food resources for other organisms. (Autotroph)

primary consumer

feeds only on plants

secondary consumer

organisms feed on other organisms

tertiary consumer

higher-level consumers that feed on flesh of other carnivores and plants

decomposer

aka detritivore; a heterotroph that breaks down organic material and uses the decomposition products to supply with energy (microorganisms of decay)

heterotroph

(consumer) an organism that cannot synthesize its own food from inorganic materials and therefore must use the bodies of other organisms as sources of energy and body building materials

biomass pyramid

the dry weight of all organic matter contained in its organisms transferred from one trophic level to the next

energy pyramid

illustrates the energy content of the biomass of each trophic level; energy loss through the trophic levels that is a 90% loss each time energy is transferred to another level

gross primary product

is the total amount of photosynthetic energy that plants capture and assimilate in a given period

net primary product

is productivity after respiration losses are subtracted

trophic level

an organism's position in a food web chain, which is determined by its feeding relationships

abiotic

non living factors in an ecosystem

biotic

living factors in an ecosystem

evolution

cumulative genetic changes that occur over time in a population of organisms

natural selection

proposed by Charles Darwin: is the process in which better- adapted individuals (containing genetic traits better suited to environmental conditions) are more likely to survive and reproduce increasing their portion in the population.

coevolution

produces physical and behavioral changes due to the response of predator verse prey; as the predator evolves more efficient ways to catch the prey and the prey evolves better ways to escape the predator

ecological succession

is the orderly replacement of one community by another

primary succession

is the change in species composition over time in a previously uninhabited environment. Land bare of soil is colonized by new organism

secondary succession

is the change in species composition that takes that place after some disturbance destroys the existing vegetation; soil is already present. New community develops after a disturbance

ecological niche

the role played by a species in their biological environment or the total set of environment factors that determine a species distribution aka the status of an organism within its environment and community (affecting its survival as a species)

realized niche

The part of fundamental niche that an organism occupies as a result of limiting factors present in its habitat

fundamental niche

The full range of environmental conditions and resources an organism can possibly occupy and use, especially when limiting factors are absent in its habitat.

keystone species

is a species, often a predator, that exerts profound influence on a community in excess of that expected by its relative abundance

symbiosis

any intimate relationship or association between members of two or more species

mutualism

where both partners benefit. Ex) a cleaner wrasse eats bacteria out of a cods mouth keeping the cod free from disease

parasitism

where one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed. Ex) mistletoe extracts water and nutrients from a spruce tree which will eventually kill the tree

commensalism

where one organism benefits and the other is neither harmed nor destroyed. Ex) a remora hitches a ride on a sharks and eats the leftovers from the shark's meal

predation

the consumption of one species(the prey) by another (the predator). Includes animals both eating other animals and plants

resource portioning

the reduction in competition for environmental resources such as food, that occurs among coexisting species as a result of each species niche differing from the others in one or more ways

limiting resource

a limited resource that an organism depends on such as water, food, shelter and space

competition

the interaction among organisms that vie for that same resources in an ecosystem such as food or living space

competitive exclusion

the concept that no two species with identical living requirements can occupy the same ecological niche indefinitely

dynamic equilibrium

A system in a steady state since forward reaction and backward reaction occur at the same rate. (rate of loss is equal to the rate of gain).

gaia theory

Organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on earth to form a self-regulating, complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions for life on the planet.

negative feedback

Negative feedback is a situation in which a change in some condition triggers a response that counteracts or reverses the changed condition.

carbon cycle

The worldwide circulation of _____ from the abiotic environment into organisms and back into the abiotic environment.

hydrologic (water) cycle

evaporation, precipitation, flow to seas... which contains to renew the supply of water essential to life

nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen fixation is the conversion of nitrogen gas to ammonia. Nitrification is the conservation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrate. Assimilation is the biological conversion of nitrates, ammonia, or ammonium into proteins and other nitrogen containing compounds by plants also the conversion of plant proteins into animal proteins. Ammonification is the conversion of organic nitrogen to ammonia and ammonium ions. Denitrification converts nitrogen into nitrogen gas.

sulfur cycle

Most of this occurs as rocks or as _____ dissolved in the ocean. Mostly in bacteria though.

phosphorus cycle

Has no biological important gaseous compounds, but erodes from rock as inorganic phosphates and plants absorb it from the soil. Decomposers release inorganic ___ into the soil

run-off

Movement of fresh water from precipitation and snowmelt to rivers, lakes wetlands and ultimately the ocean.

watershed

A region of land within which water flows down into a specified body, such as a river, lake sea or ocean; a drainage basin.

global warming

(climate change)

greenhouse effect

the natural warming of our atmosphere caused by the presence of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which traps the sun's radiation.

biochemical oxygen demand

Amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at a certain temperature over a specified amount of time.

photochemical smog

A brownish haze formed by complex chemical reactions involving sunlight, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons.

acid deposition

A type of air pollution that includes acid that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation or as dry acidic particles.

temperature changes with latitude

farther away from equator colder it gets.

temperate changes with season

Winter= cold. Summer = warm.

atmospheric composition

mainly nitrogen, oxygen and argon

layers of the atmosphere

Troposphere- first layer directly above the surface contains half of earth's atmosphere (weather occurs here). Stratosphere- where planes fly and has ozone layer. Mesosphere- rocks or meteors burn up here. Thermosphere- layer with auroras, also where space shuttles orbit. Exosphere- upper limit where atmosphere merges to space.

coriolis effect

The tendency of moving air or water to be deflected from its path to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere caused by the direction of earths rotation.

gyres

A circular, prevailing wind that generates circular ocean currents.

ocean conveyor belt

constant motion of the ocean due to currents. (cold water sinks to the bottom while warm water rises.

el nino- southern oscillation

A periodic warming of surface waters of the tropical East Pacific that alters both ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns and results in unusual weather in areas far from the tropical pacific.

weather

the condition at a particular time and place.

precipitation

water falling from the sky

rain shadow

An area on the downwind side of a mountain range with very little precipitation

tornados and tropical cyclones

Giant rotating storm with winds of at least 119 kph.

lithosphere

the rigid outermost shell of the rocky planet defined on the basis of the mechanical properties. (crust and upper mantle)

asthenosphere

region below the lithosphere.

plate tectonics

The theory that explains how Earth's crustal plates move and interact at their boundaries.

subduction

the process in which one tectonic plate descends under an adjacent plate.

earthquakes

seismic waves, faults, focus, epicenter) - Seismic waves are vibrations that travel through rock. Faults are fractures along the crust. Focus is the site where the earthquake starts often far below surface. Epicenter is the site located directly above the focus on earth's surface.