AP Environmental Science- important, relevant terms from the 12 units of APES.
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| 815079801 | Anthropocentric | regarding humans as most significant species; human-centered | |
| 815079802 | Tragedy of the Commons | the depletion of shared resources by people acting in individual interest | |
| 815079803 | Triple Bottom Line | approach to sustainability that meets environmental, economic, and social goals (business) | |
| 815079804 | Inorganic Compounds | compounds that lack carbon and hydrogen atoms | |
| 815079805 | Organic Compounds | compounds that contain carbon-based molecules | |
| 815079806 | Positive Feedback Loop | when the response to a stimulus increases the original stimulus | |
| 815079807 | Negative Feedback Loop | when the response to a stimulus decreases the effect of the original stimulus | |
| 815079808 | Overshoot | when a population exceeds the long term carrying capacity for an environment | |
| 815079809 | Open System | a system in which matter can enter from or escape to the surroundings | |
| 815079810 | Closed System | a system that allows the exchange of energy (not matter)between the system and its surroundings | |
| 815079811 | Holistic | emphasizing the functional relationship between parts and the whole | |
| 815079812 | Hectare | a unit of surface area equal to 100 ares | |
| 815079813 | Ecological Footprint | a way of measuring how much of an impact a person or community has on the earth | |
| 815079814 | Sustainable Development | development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations | |
| 815079815 | Environmental Justice | recognition that access to a clean, healthy environment is a fundamental right | |
| 815079816 | Biodiversity | the variety of species living within an ecosystem | |
| 815079817 | In situ | in the original or natural place or site | |
| 815079818 | Ex situ | off-site conservation; outside location | |
| 815079819 | Inbreeding Depression | the negative consequences in a population when genetically similar parents reproduce weak offspring | |
| 815079820 | Intrinsic Value | worth independent of any human benefit; inherent worth | |
| 815079821 | Invasive Species | species that enter new ecosystems and harm native species and their habitats | |
| 815079822 | Endangered Species Act | identifies/protects threatened and endangered species | |
| 815079823 | Lacey Act | prohibits interstate transport of wild animals without federal permit | |
| 815079824 | Species Diversity | the number and relative amount of species in a biological community | |
| 815079825 | Island Biogeography | the study of rates of colonization and extinction of species on islands (size, shape, and distance) | |
| 815079826 | Genetic Diversity | the amount of variation in the genetic material within all members of a population | |
| 815079827 | Biological Wealth | combination of commercial, scientific, and aesthetic values by a regions biota | |
| 815079828 | Ecotourism | a form of tourism that supports the conservation and sustainable development of ecological areas | |
| 815079829 | Instrumental Value | value based on its usefulness to humans | |
| 815079830 | Remediation | containment, treatment or removal of contaminated groundwater | |
| 815079831 | Nitrification | the process by which nitrites and nitrates are produced by bacteria in the soil | |
| 815079832 | Denitrification | conversion of nitrates into nitrogen gas | |
| 815079833 | Ammonification | decomposers convert organic waste into ammonia | |
| 815079834 | Niche | the status of an organism within its environment and community | |
| 815079835 | Ecotone | the transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another | |
| 815079836 | Autotroph | organism that makes its own food | |
| 815079837 | Heterotroph | an organism that depends on complex organic substances for nutrition; cannot make food | |
| 815079838 | Interspecific Competition | competition between members of different species | |
| 815079839 | Intraspecific Competition | competition between members of the same species | |
| 815079840 | Net Primary Productivity | the rate at which biomass accumulates in an ecosystem | |
| 815079841 | Gross Primary Productivity | the rate at which energy is produced in an ecosystem | |
| 815079842 | Indicator Species | species that serve as early warnings that an ecosystem is being damaged | |
| 815079843 | Keystone Species | a species that influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem | |
| 815079844 | Resource Partitioning | difference of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community | |
| 815079845 | Umbrella Species | a species that impacts the survival of many species | |
| 815079846 | Euphotic Zone | layer of water where sunlight is sufficient for photosynthesis to occur | |
| 815079847 | Thermal Stratification | vertical temperature layering | |
| 815079848 | Salinization | the buildup of salts in surface soil layers | |
| 815079849 | Oligotrophic | system in which productivity and nutrient content are low | |
| 815079850 | Eutrophication | process of a body of water becoming too rich in nutrients, leading to plant growth that depletes oxygen | |
| 815079851 | Trawler Fishing | dragging a net held open at the neck along the ocean bottom to get bottom-dwelling fish | |
| 815079852 | Purse-seine Fishing | a large net is encircled around the targeted catch,then the bottom of the net is drawn tight like the strings of a purse | |
| 815079853 | Drift Net Fishing | catching fish in huge nets that drift in the water | |
| 815079854 | Long Line Fishing | fishing by dragging long lines with baited hooks | |
| 815079855 | Floodplain | a low plain adjacent to a river and subject to flooding | |
| 815079856 | Center-pivot Irrigation | a type of irrigation that waters crops using sprinkler systems on huge turning wheels | |
| 815079857 | Trickle Irrigation | a form of irrigation that saves water by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants | |
| 815079858 | Watershed | the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place | |
| 815079859 | Evapotranspiration | the evaporation of water from soil plus the transpiration of water from plants | |
| 815079860 | Xeriscaping | a method of landscaping that uses plants that are well adapted to the local area and are drought resistant | |
| 815079861 | Growth Rate | rate of increase or decrease of a population | |
| 815079862 | Total Fertility Rate | measures the number of children born per woman | |
| 815079863 | Replacement Fertility Rate | the average number of children that couples in a population must have to replace themselves | |
| 815079864 | Zero Population Growth | when the birth rate equals the death rate | |
| 815079865 | Demographic Transition | the general pattern of demographic change from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates | |
| 815079866 | Exponential Growth | occurs when the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate | |
| 815079867 | Biotic Potential | maximum rate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions | |
| 815079868 | Population Density | number of individuals per unit area | |
| 815079869 | Doubling Time | the time required for a population to double in size | |
| 815079870 | Demography | the scientific study of population characteristics | |
| 815079871 | Crude Birth Rate | the number of live births yearly per thousand people in a population | |
| 815079872 | Crude Death Rate | the number of deaths yearly per thousand people in a population | |
| 815079873 | Population Explosion | the rapid growth of the world's human population during the past century | |
| 815079874 | Graying | a term used to indicate that a large amount of a society's population is becoming elderly | |
| 815079875 | Generation Time | the period between the birth of one generation and the birth of the next generation | |
| 815079876 | Igneous Rock | a type of rock that forms from the cooling of molten rock at or below the surface | |
| 815079877 | Sediment Rock | a type of rock formed from sediment is deposited in layers and compacted | |
| 815079878 | Metamorphic Rock | a type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat/pressure/reactions | |
| 815079879 | Coreolis Effect | water moves clock wise in the northern hemisphere, counter clockwise in the southern | |
| 815079880 | Intrusive | rocks that form from magma below the surface | |
| 815079881 | Extrusive | rocks that form when lava cools and solidifies on the surface | |
| 815079882 | Divergent Plates | plates moving away from each other in opposite directions | |
| 815079883 | Convergent Plates | tectonic plates that collide with each other | |
| 815079884 | Transform Plates | plates that slide past each other | |
| 815079885 | Lithosphere | the solid part of the earth (crust, outer mantle) | |
| 815079886 | Hydrosphere | the watery layer of the earth's surface | |
| 815079887 | Asthenosphere | the soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats | |
| 815079888 | Relative Dating | method of determining the age of a fossil (comparing fossil placement) | |
| 815079889 | Convection | the transfer of thermal energy by the circulation or movement of a liquid or gas | |
| 815079890 | Conduction | the transfer of thermal energy from one substance to another through direct contact | |
| 815079891 | Topsoil | the layer of soil on the surface | |
| 815079892 | Litter | the layer of dead plant leaves and stems on the surface of the soil | |
| 815079893 | Subsoil | the layer of soil beneath the topsoil that contains mostly clay | |
| 815079894 | Humus | partially decomposed organic matter | |
| 815079895 | Porosity | the percentage of the total volume of a rock or sediment that consists of open spaces | |
| 815079896 | Overgrazing | allowing more animals to graze in an area than the range can support | |
| 815079897 | Organic Fertilizer | a fertilizer that is derived from animal or vegetable matter | |
| 815079898 | Inorganic Fertilizer | an agricultural product applied to the soil (mined or synthetically manufactured material) | |
| 815079899 | Desertification | degradation of land because of human actions( excessive crop planting, grazing and tree cutting) | |
| 815079900 | Erosion | condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind | |
| 815079901 | Structure (soil) | -O horizon -A-mineral matter and hummus -E - leached of color -B - clay accumulation from above -C horizon - partially altered bedrock | |
| 815079902 | Excessive Irrigation | over irrigation of a specific area that leads to salinization | |
| 815079903 | Acidity | a measure of how acid a solution is- the lower the pH, the greater this is | |
| 815079904 | Animal Manure | dung/urine of animals used as a form of organic fertilizer | |
| 815079905 | Green Manure | a growing crop that is plowed under to enrich soil | |
| 815079906 | LD-50 | the amount of a chemical that kills 50% of the animals in a test population | |
| 815079907 | "Snow White Syndrome" | production of visually appealing products for consumers through pesticides/fertilizers | |
| 815079908 | Biomagnification | buildup of pollutants at higher levels of the food chain | |
| 815079909 | Bioaccumulation | the build up of a substance as it passes through a food chain | |
| 815079910 | Rachel Carson | author of Silent Spring; helped influence environmental awareness and banning of DDT | |
| 815079911 | Food Irradiation | the treatment of foods with gamma radiation kill potentially harmful pathogens and increase shelf life | |
| 815079912 | Bacillus thuringensis | a biological insecticide | |
| 815079913 | Carcinogen | any substance that produces cancer | |
| 815079914 | Mutagen | physical or chemical agent that causes mutations | |
| 815079915 | Teratogen | any factor that can cause a birth defect | |
| 815079916 | Endocrine Disruptor | acts as hormones and disrupts the reproductive process | |
| 815079917 | Radon | a radioactive gaseous element | |
| 815079918 | Cultural Hazard | smoking, unsafe working conditions, poor diet, drugs, drinking, driving, criminal assault, unsafe sex, and poverty | |
| 815079919 | Physical Hazard | the use, condition, or occupancy of an area or object | |
| 815079920 | Biological Hazard | any living organism or waste of living organism that contributes to disease | |
| 815079921 | Brownfields | abandoned polluted industrial sites in central cities | |
| 815079922 | Fly Ash | a waste product produced by the burning of coal | |
| 815079923 | Closed Loop Recycling | recycling of a product into the same product | |
| 815079924 | Open Loop Recycling | recycling products are reused to form new products | |
| 815079925 | Love Canal | toxic waste site in New York filled with drums of waste that leaked. | |
| 815079926 | Leachate | a liquid that has passed through compacted solid waste in a landfill | |
| 815079927 | Orphan Sites | sites abandoned with hazardous waste in them | |
| 815079928 | Bottom Ash | the unburned and unburnable matter left after waste has gone through combustion | |
| 815079929 | Superfund | a fund created by Congress in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites | |
| 815079930 | Municipal Solid Waste | waste produced by households and businesses | |
| 815079931 | Industrial Solid Waste | produced by mines, agriculture, and industries | |
| 815079932 | Life-Cycle Analysis | the assessment of the effect a product has on the environment | |
| 815079933 | Source Reduction | reducing waste at the source, producing less waste | |
| 815079934 | Bioremediation | the use of living organisms to detoxify and restore | |
| 815079935 | Sanitary Landfill | a low area where waste is buried between layers of earth | |
| 815079936 | Asbestos | mineral used extensively in insulation, causes respiratory issues | |
| 815079937 | SOX | produced by chemical interacting between sulfur and oxygen; acid rain, secondary pollutant | |
| 815079938 | NOX | nitrous oxides (created through burning fossil fuels); photochemical smog | |
| 815079939 | CFCs | chlorofluorocarbons; destroy ozone layer | |
| 815079940 | VOCs | used in paints, stains; create ozone | |
| 815079941 | Particulate Matter | reduces visibility and respiratory irritation | |
| 815079942 | Fecal Coliform | indicator of sewage contamination | |
| 815079943 | Albedo | percent of solar radiation reflected by a surface | |
| 815079944 | Ozone | a colorless gas; separated by "good ozone" and "bad ozone" | |
| 815079945 | Kyoto Protocol | binding commitments for the reduction of four greenhouse gases and two groups of gases | |
| 815079946 | Hypoxic | low level of oxygen | |
| 815079947 | Aerosols | small particles in atmosphere | |
| 815079948 | Photochemical Smog | mixture of ozone and other chemicals; when pollutants react | |
| 815079949 | Industrial Smog | smog resulting from industry emissions/burning of fossil fuels. | |
| 815079950 | Nonpoint Source | widely spread source of pollution; not specific | |
| 815079951 | Turbine | provides mechanical energy to a generator | |
| 815079952 | Water Impoundment | storage of water in a reservoir behind a dam | |
| 815079953 | Oil Sands | substances that can be mined from the ground | |
| 815079954 | Crude Oil | petroleum that has not been processed | |
| 815079955 | Control Rods | free neutrons, neutron-absorbing rods that help control the reaction by limiting free neutrons | |
| 815079956 | Fuel Rods | tubes containing uranium or other elements that release energy when fission occurs | |
| 815079957 | Cogeneration | the production of energy from the same fuel source | |
| 815079958 | Conservation | the preservation of the environment and natural resources | |
| 815079959 | Strip Mining | rocks and soil are stripped from earths surface to expose the underlying materials | |
| 815079960 | Biomass | plant materials and animal waste used as fuel | |
| 815079961 | Curie | unit of radioactivity | |
| 815079962 | Biofuels | fuelscreated from the fermentation of plants or plant products | |
| 815079963 | Ethanol | a soure of energy that can be processed from plant material | |
| 815079964 | Nuclear Fuel | fuel that can be used in nuclear reactors as a source of electricity | |
| 815079965 | Nuclear Fission | a nuclear reaction in which a massive nucleus splits into smaller nuclei | |
| 815079966 | Wilderness Act | allowed Congress to set aside land for reservation | |
| 815079967 | Safe Water and Drinking Act | protects drinking water from toxic contamination through discharge | |
| 815079968 | Convention on the Law of the Sea | defines rights and responsibilities of nations in use of world's oceans; promotes peaceful use of oceans | |
| 815079969 | Food Security Act | tax-related provisions; provides support for crops, energy, livestock, etc. | |
| 815079970 | Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act | governs sale/use of pesticides in the United States | |
| 815079971 | Stockholm Declaration | focused on creating international environmental policy | |
| 815079972 | Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act | encourages response, requires reporting of toxic contamination | |
| 815079973 | Montreal Protocol | banned production of aerosols, redution of CFCs | |
| 815079974 | Taylor Grazing Act | prevents overgrazing/soil degredation; providers improvements, development | |
| 815079975 | Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act | regulates labeling of food, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices | |
| 815079976 | Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species | international legislation controlling exploitation of endangered species | |
| 815079977 | Occupational Safety and Health | protects the welfare of people engaged in work or employment | |
| 815079978 | Clean Water Act | created to make surface waters swimmable and fishable; set standards for water | |
| 815079979 | Clean Air Act | emission standards for cars/limits for release of air pollutants | |
| 815079980 | Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act | requires coal strip mines to reclaim the land |
