Princeton Review AP Environmental Science Hit Parade
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| 686574938 | Ammonification | the production of ammonia or ammonium compounds in the decomposition of organic matter, especially through the action of bacteria | |
| 686574939 | Assimilation | the process in which plants absorb ammonium, amonia ions, and nitrate ions through their roots | |
| 686574940 | Chemotroph | an organism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds, as opposed to photosynthesis | |
| 686574941 | Climax Community | a stable, mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment. | |
| 686574942 | Competitive Exclusion | process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins | |
| 686574943 | Denitrification | process by which specialized bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, nitrate, and nitrogen gas and release it back to the atmosphere | |
| 686574944 | Detritivore | organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter, such as dead animals or fallen | |
| 686574945 | Ecological Succession | transition in species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life. | |
| 686574946 | Edge Effect | the condition in which, at ecosystem boundaries, there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities | |
| 686574947 | Gause's Principle | states that no two species can occupy the same niche at the same time, and that the species that is less fit to live in the environment will either relocate, die out, or occupy a smaller niche | |
| 686574948 | Gross Primary Productivity | the amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis, and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth, maintenance, repair, and reproduction | |
| 686574949 | Heterotroph | an organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition | |
| 686574950 | Keystone Species | a species whose very presence contributes to an ecosystem's diversity and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life | |
| 686574951 | Net Primary Productivity | the amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem | |
| 686574952 | Niche | the total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment | |
| 686574953 | Nitrification | the process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium to a form that can be used by plants; nitrates | |
| 686574954 | Nitrogen Fixation | the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds, such as ammonia, by natural agencies or various industrial processes | |
| 686574955 | Pioneer Species | organisms in the first stages of succession | |
| 686574956 | Primary Succession | when ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area, such as the area behind a moving glacier | |
| 686574957 | Realized Niche | when a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition | |
| 686574958 | Residency Time | the amount of time a resource spends in a reservoir or an exchange pool |
