APES Semester 1 Final

APES Study Guide for 1st Semester Final 

Unit 1 

Terms to know: 

Sustainability 

Sustainable Yield 

GDP, per capita GDP 

Developed  

nations/developing nations Tragedy of the Commons  (examples) 

Open access resource Renewable/Nonrenewable Point vs. Nonpoint  

Anthropogenic 

Biodegradable 

Entropy 

Concepts: 

NPP, GPP 

Respiration 

Biologic oxygen demand  Ecological Efficiency/Rule of  10% 

Biomagnification 

Synergy 

Prokaryotic/eukaryotic Abiotic/biotic 

Range of tolerance 

Limiting factors 

Trophic level 

Autotroph/heterotroph 

Decomposers Biomagnification Bioaccumulation Transpiration Infiltration 

Percolation 

Nitrogen-fixing Assimilation 

Nitrification 

Ammonification Denitrification


Be able to state and explain the 1st Law of Thermodynamics.
 1. Energy cannot be created or destroyed only transformed from one form to another

Be able to state and explain the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Understand the implications of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics for a food chain (why form energy pyramids, why this can cause  biomagnification, ecological footprint of meat)
2.  When energy is transformed the quantity remains the same but its ability to do work decreases.
- ex, rule of 105
 - biomagnification, top predators must eat massive amounts of prey, causing toxins to concentrate in their bodies
 - Eating lower on the food chain is more energy efficient because you bypass the 90% energy loss at the livestock level. 

Be able to explain the concept of Biological Oxygen Demand and the factors that control oxygen  levels in water bodies, such as Ellis Pond. 

  • BOD: the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic bacteria to break down organic matter in a water body

  • High BOD = LOW DO: if a pond(like ellis pond) has a lot of organic waste, bacteria goes into overdrive and they consume all the oxygen leading to HYPOXIA

  • Factors: temperature(warm water holds less oxygen), nutrient levels(nitrogen and phosphorus), and organic matter. 

Understand the basic processes for the following cycles: water nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorous.  Know the key reservoirs for the nutrients (atmosphere, ocean, or rock), and how the nutrients are  taken up into plants. 

  • Nitrogen cycle: 

  • Key reservoir: Atmosphere (N2)

  • Uptake by plants: Nitrate or Ammonium

  • Carbon Cycle

    • Key reservoir: Atmosphere, Co2 or Ocean

    • Uptake by plant: C02 via photosynthesis

  • Phosphorus: 

    • Rocks/Sediment(no gas phase)

    • Phosphate from soil

  • Water

    • Ocean/Ice Caps

    • Roots via Osmosis

Know how to calculate NPP, GPP and R/BOD. 

  • GPP: total energy captured by plants

  • NPP energy left after plants breath

    • NPP= GPP - R

  • BOD/RESPIRATION: measures as the drop in oxygen in a dark bottle

Be able to define ecosystem services and be able to categorize examples into the four types:  supporting, regulating, provisioning and cultural. 

  • Provisioning: physical stuff(lumber, food, clean water, medicine)

  • Regulating: “control”, (climate regulation, flood control by wetlands, pollination)

  • Supporting: The stuff we NEED, (soil formation, nutrient cycling, photosynthesis)

  • Cultural: non material benefit(tourism, beauty, spiritual, religion) 

Be able to solve problems using dimensional analysis. Know kilo, centi and milli conversions.
• Know the formula to calculate percent change. 

New value - old value/ old value

Be able to explain the basic process of wastewater treatment including primary and secondary  treatment.

  • Primary: uses screens and settling tanks to remove large “grit” and solids(sludge)

  • Secondary: uses bacteria in aeration tanks to break down organic waste, lowering BOD

  • Disinfection: Usually at the end using Chlorine, UV light, or ozone to kill pathogens. 

Evolution and Biodiversity:  

Terms to know: 

Mutation 

Natural selection 

Artificial selection/ Selective  breeding 

Adaptation 

Divergent evolution 

Speciation 

Selective pressure 

Concepts: 

Niche vs. habitat 

Generalist vs. specialist  Endemic species 

Invasive species 

Keystone species 

Indicator species 

Resource partitioning Symbiotic relationships 

Primary vs. secondary  succession 

Species diversity: species  richness and evenness Habitat Fragmentation Threatened vs. Endangered HIPPCO 

• Be able to explain the requirement for natural selection: variability in the population due to mutations, heritability of trait, differential reproduction (differences in survival and or reproductive success due to  favorable/unfavorable traits).  

  • Variability: there must be genetic diversity within the population, primarily caused by random mutations in DNA and sexual reproduction(recombination). 

  • Heritability: the trait must be coded in organism’s DNA so it can be passed down from parents to offspring

  • Differential Reproduction: this is the selection part: not every individual survives

• Be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of generalist species and specialist species. 

  • Niche Breadth

  • Generalists: can live in many different places, eat a variety of foods, and tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, often outcompeted by specialists when environmental conditions are very stable

  • Specialist: Highly efficient at using specific resources: reduced competition in their specific niche, but vulnerable to extinction if the environment changes of their specific food source disappears. 

• Be able to explain the general trends throughout the process of succession. • Be able to give characteristics of extinction-prone species. 

  • Biomass: increases as the community moves from grasses to shrubs to trees

  • Species diversity, generally increases over time, but may level off or slightly dip in the final climax

  • Soil depth increases

Population Dynamics:  

Terms to know:  

Population size and density Age structure diagrams Biotic potential 

Intrinsic rate of growth (r) Logistic Growth 

Concepts: 

Carrying capacity (K) Environmental resistance Habitat fragmentation Habitat corridors 

Immigration/Emigration 

Zero Population Growth Replacement level fertility Total fertility rate 

• Understand how scientists estimate the size of large populations and know how to solve a mark-and recapture population estimate. 

• Understand exponential growth and the relationship to intrinsic growth rate and biotic potential. • Know the shape of a logistic growth and be able to identify K.  

• Know factors that affect the carrying capacity, including revolutions in human evolution. • What happens when species exceed their carrying capacity? 

• Be able to explain what r-strategists vs. K-strategists are and identify examples of each. Know the  advantages and disadvantages to each strategy. 

• Know the three types of survivorships curves and the type of strategist correlated with each. • Know how to calculate growth rate problems- given that birth and death rates are typically given per  1000 and growth rates are as a percentage.  

• Know factors that affect US fertility (what makes us different from other developed countries?) • Differences in birth rates between developed and developing countries. 

• Be able to interpret age structure diagrams: what they look like for different types of population  growth 

• Understand the demographic Transition Model (preindustrial, transitional, industrial, postindustrial  stages): relative birth, death and growth rates for each of the 4 stages and why 

• Know strategies governments can use to affect population growth. 

• Know how to use the rule of 70 and know how to use this formula to estimate the doubling time. 

Weather  

• Know that the latitude and season affect the amount of solar radiation in a location. Understand  why direct light is most intense. Know how the tilt of the Earth’s axis causes the seasons and affects  the length of the day throughout the year in a given location. 

  • Solar Radiation is the main driver of earth’s climate and weather patterns. The angle of the sunlight is determined by the angle of incidence

    • When the sunlight hits the equator at a 90 degree angle, the energy is concentrated in a small area. At the poles, the same amount of light hits at a slant, spreading the energy over a much larger surface area. 

    • Direct light travels a shorter distance through the atmosphere. Slanted light must pass through more atmosphere, where more energy is scattered or absorbed by gases and particles. 

  • Earth’s tilt: 23.5 degrees, in which the cause of seasons is due to the earth’s orbit. 

• Know how temperature affects the water vapor holding capacity of air. Understand how changing  the temperature of air without changing the water vapor content affects the relative humidity. • Understand why low-pressure zones correlate with rainy weather and high-pressure zones are  associated with dry conditions. 

  • Holding capacity: warm air is less dense and has a higher capacity to hold water vapor, so when there is a less ratio it feels drier

  • Relative humidity: if the amount of water vapor stays the same but the temperature increases, the relative humidity decreases. If air cools, relative humidity increases until it reaches 100% saturation, leading to condensation/rain. 

  • Low pressure is associated with rain, why?
     Because as air is warm and rising, it rises and it expands and cools. Since cool air holds less water, the vapor condenses into clouds and precipitation. 

  • High pressure is associated with dry weather, air is cooling and sinking, the sinking air is compressed and warms up. This warm air soaks up moisture like a sponge, preventing cloud formation and leading to clear, dry skies. 

• Know the general latitude location, areas of low vs. high pressure, and movement of air in the  Hadley Cell convection currents. Understand that the convection cells of the Earth’s atmosphere  are driven by the fact that the most direct light is received at the equator- which results in the air  pressure differences in the convection cells. 

  • Hadley cell is the primary circulation pattern between o and 30 latitude,

  • Driver: intense, direct sunlight at the equator heats the air, creating a permanent low pressure zone. 

  • Warm air RISES at 0, causing heavy rain(tropical rainforests), as it moves toward the poles in the upper atmosphere it cools. Then dry, cool air sinks at roughly 30 degrees =  high pressure zones which is why the world’s greatest desserts are found there. 

Plate Tectonics:  

• Know the three types of plate boundaries: Divergent, Convergent and Transform. • Divergent boundaries cause seafloor spreading, rift valleys, volcanoes & earthquakes  • Transform boundaries (ex. San Andreas Fault) can cause large earthquakes. 

• 3 types of Convergent boundaries (all can cause large earthquakes):  


Boundary Type

Movement

Key Features

Examples

Divergent

Moving Apart

Seafloor spreading, rift valleys, volcanoes, earthquakes

Mid-Atlantic Ridge, East African Rift

Transform

Sliding Past

Large earthquakes, no volcanoes

San Andreas Fault

Convergent

Moving Together

Subduction, mountains, island arcs, volcanoes, earthquakes

Himalayas, Andes, Mariana Trench


o Continent-Continent: uplift (neither plate is dense), mountains but no volcanos 

  • Neither plate is dense enough to sink so they “crumple” upward to from massive mountains(Himilayas). No volcanoes, no frequent earth quakes

o Ocean- Ocean or Ocean- Continent: denser plate subducts, volcanos can form.

  • The denser plate(always oceanic) subducts under the lighter plate, as it melts in the mantle, magma rises to form volcanic arcs or island chains. 

• Know the definition of a hot spot and that it creates a chain of volcanoes of different ages.

  • Hot spot: a stationary plume of hot magma rising from deep within the mantle

  • Unlike volcanoes at boundaries these occur in the middle of the plate

  • As the tectonic plates move over the stationary hot spot, a chian of volcanoes forms

  • The volcanoes directly over the hot spot is active and youngest, further away are extinct/older