(5) AP Environmental Science Unit 2 Review (Everything you Need to Know!)

Biodiversity

The diversity of different life forms found in an ecosystem.

Genetic biodiversity

The variance of genes or traits found within individuals of a population.

Species diversity

The diversity of different types of organisms found in an ecosystem, often measured by species richness and species evenness.

Species richness

A simple measure of species diversity that counts the total number of different species found in a given ecosystem.

Species evenness

The distribution or balance of the population sizes of all the different populations present in an ecosystem.

Ecosystem diversity

The variance in the different ecosystems found in a given area.

Ecosystem services

Financial benefits derived from natural ecosystems, categorized into provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural services.

Provisioning services

Ecosystem services that provide direct resources to humans, such as wood or food.

Supporting services

Ecosystem processes that support human activities, such as pollination of crops.

Regulating services

Ecosystem functions that stabilize environmental conditions, such as climate regulation.

Cultural services

Recreational and intellectual benefits derived from nature, such as tourism.

Island biogeography

A theory stating that the size and distance of islands from the mainland affect species richness.

Ecological tolerance

The range of conditions an organism or species can tolerate before suffering serious injury or death.

Zone of physiological stress

The range of conditions under which an organism experiences stress but can survive.

Zone of intolerance

The range of conditions outside of which an organism cannot survive, leading to death.

Primary succession

The ecological process where pioneer species colonize a bare rock ecosystem.

Secondary succession

The ecological development that occurs in an area where soil is already present following a disturbance.

Climax community

A stable community that has reached a stage of ecological succession, characterized by high species richness and biomass.

Keystone species

A species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecosystem; its removal can cause significant ecosystem collapse.

Ecosystem engineer

A keystone species that dramatically alters its environment, creating habitats that allow other species to thrive.