A master set of all of my APES flashcards complete with all terms, extra knowledge, and equations. Good Luck!
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| 13846685083 | Trade Winds | A wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea. Two belts encircle the earth blowing from the tropical high-pressure belts to the low-pressure zone at the equator. | 0 | |
| 13846895693 | Jet Streams | A narrow, variable band of very strong predominantly westerly air currents encircling the globe several miles around the earth. There are typically two or three in each of the northern and southern hemispheres. | 1 | |
| 13846969113 | Westerlies | Winds blowing from the west to the east; the belt of prevailing winds in the mid-latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres. | 2 | |
| 13846980744 | Hadley Cell | A large-scale atmospheric convection cell in which air rises at the equator and sinks at medium latitudes, typically about 30° north or south. The largest cell. | 3 | |
| 13847009716 | Polar Cell | The smallest and weakest convection cell; extend from between 60 and 70 degrees north and south to the poles. Air intense cells sinks over the highest latitudes and flows out towards the lower latitudes of the surface. | 4 | |
| 13847382154 | Ferrel Cell | Middle cells; air converges at low altitudes to ascend along the boundaries between cool polar air and the warm subtropical air that generally occurs between 60 and 70 degrees north and south; moves in the opposite direction of the other two cells because it acts like a gear. | 5 | |
| 13849129410 | Biome | a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g., forest or tundra. | 6 | |
| 13849142809 | Hurricanes Cyclones Typhoons Tropical Storms | The strongest tropical storms that are formed by warm and moist air rising, condensing to form clouds, heavy rainfall and a low pressure zone; huge tropical storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. H: A storm with a violent wind C: A system of winds rotating inward to an area of low atmospheric pressure, with a counter-clockwise (northern hemisphere) or clockwise (southern hemisphere) circulation. T/TS: A tropical storm in the region of the Indian or Western Pacific Oceans | 7 | |
| 13849184922 | Troposhere | the lowest region of the atmosphere, extending from the earth's surface to a height of about 3.7-6.2 miles (6-10 km), which is the lower boundary of the stratosphere. Ozone is bad here! | 8 | |
| 13849187907 | Stratosphere | The layer of the earth's atmosphere above the troposphere, extending to about 32 miles (50 km) above the earth's surface (the lower boundary of the mesosphere). Ozone good here! | 9 | |
| 13849193346 | Mesosphere | The strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core; the region of the earth's atmosphere above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere, between about 30 and 50 miles (50-80 km) in altitude. | 10 | |
| 13849201674 | Thermosphere | The region of the atmosphere above the mesosphere and below the height at which the atmosphere ceases to have the properties of a continuous medium. Characterized throughout by an increase in temperature with height, very hot layer. | 11 | |
| 13849218856 | Exosphere | The outermost layer of the thermosphere/region of a planet's atmosphere, extending outward into space. | 12 | |
| 13849225195 | Earth's Atmosphere | Composed of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and very small amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other "trace gases": ozone (O3), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), etc. EXO - THERMO - MESO - STRATO - TROPO | 13 | |
| 13849231544 | Greenhouse gas | A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, e.g., carbon dioxide and chloroflourocarbons (CFCs). | 14 | |
| 13849248908 | Global Warming Potential (GWP) | A relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere. | 15 | |
| 13849265107 | Weather v Climate | W: The conditions of the atmosphere over a short period of time. C: The way that the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time. | 16 | |
| 13849283337 | Infrared Radiation (IR) | A region of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum where wavelengths range from about 700 nanometers (nm) to 1 millimeter (mm). | 17 | |
| 13849298692 | Downwelling | The downward movement of fluid, especially in the sea, the atmosphere, or deep in the earth. | 18 | |
| 13849302824 | Upwelling | A rising of seawater, magma, or other liquid. | 19 | |
| 13849307344 | Earth's Rotation | When an object turns around on an internal axis like the Earth turns around its axis; causes night and day; 24 hours | 20 | |
| 13849314214 | Earth's Revolution | When an object circles an external axis like the Earth circling; 365(.25) days; Movement around the Sun | 21 | |
| 13849326903 | Why we have seasons? | The earth is tilted (wonky) as it makes its yearly journey around the Sun. ---> Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees and this means that the earth is always "pointing" to one side as it goes around the Sun. | 22 | |
| 13849341913 | High Pressure v Low Pressure Systems | HP: sinking air = nice weather LP: rising air = bad weather like rain, clouds, precipitation, etc. ** Looking from the North top-down wind is traveling east HP system - arrows go outward LP system - arrows go inward In hurricanes, HP ALWAYS wants to go to LP because of the concentration |  | 23 |
| 13849380755 | Ecological Succession | The gradual process by which ecosystems change and develop over time. | 24 | |
| 13849389578 | Primary Succession | Occurs in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and other organisms usually lacking soil, such as after a lava flow or left from retreated glacier, is deposited. | 25 | |
| 13849402696 | Secondary Succession | A process started by an event that reduces an already established ecosystem to a smaller population of species and occurs on pre-existing soil. | 26 | |
| 13849412314 | Pioneer Species | Hardy species which are the first colonize previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems. * Lichen! | 27 | |
| 13849422926 | Early Colonizers | Early stage of primary succession Dominate ---> species with small seeds and spores which can be dispersed long distances. | 28 | |
| 13849448450 | Opportunistic Species | A species with a low level of specialization that is either capable of adapting to varied living conditions, or that gives priority to reproduction over survival. | 29 | |
| 13849461616 | Climax Community | (Final stage of succession) An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist in balance with each other and their environment. ---> Unreachable/does not stay for long | 30 | |
| 13849468086 | Friable | easily crumbled, pulverized, broken, or reduced to powder; something that can be easily be reduced to a powder form; crumbly, brittle ---> used in context to soil | 31 | |
| 13849480809 | Commensalism | (Symbiotic Relationship) A relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected ---> Species A = Benefits ---> Species B = Unaffected EX. Whale and Barnacle | 32 | |
| 13849486435 | Mutualism | (Symbiotic Relationship) A relationship between two species in which both species benefit. ---> Species A = Benefits ---> Species B = Benefits EX. Sea Anemone and Clownfish | 33 | |
| 13849492776 | Parasitism | (Symbiotic Relationship) A relationship between two organisms of different species where one benefits and the other is harmed. ---> Species A = Benefits ---> Species B = Harmed EX. Dog and Tick | 34 | |
| 13849501486 | Albedo | The proportion of the incident light or radiation that is reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon. **** REFLECTIVITY OF SNOW!!!!!!!!!!! | 35 | |
| 13849509239 | Positive Feedback Loop | Occurs in nature when the product of a reaction leads to an INCREASE in that REACTION. It moves a system FURTHER away FROM EQUILIBRIUM by amplifying the effects of a product or event and occurs when something needs to happen quickly. EX. CHILDBIRTH [Pressure of child on cervix] \/ [Contractions begin] \/ [More pressure, Oxytocin released] \/ /\ [More contractions] \/ BABY BORN | 36 | |
| 13849543282 | Negative Feedback Loop | Occurs when the product of a reaction leads to a DECREASE in that reaction. It brings a system CLOSER to a target of STABILITY OF HOMEOSTASIS/EQUILIBRIUM of a system. The response of the regulating mechanism is opposite to the output of the event. EX. THERMOSTAT When a thermostat reaches the designated temperature, the thermostat then turns off, ending the loop and moving the temperature back to equilibrium. | 37 | |
| 13849580079 | Monoculture | The cultivation of a single crop in a given area. *GOOD because of Intensive Traditional Agriculture as it produces maximum profit. *BAD because with no variation, natural selection doesn't really happen so if a disease comes through that the crop isn't resistant to, it's GAME OVER! :P * BAD because it doesn't allow the soil to replenish | 38 | |
| 13849597773 | Intensive Traditional Agriculture | An agricultural intensification and mechanization system that aims to maximize yields from available land through various means, such as the heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers (which is really horrible - another reason why monocultures are bad). ** FARM FOR THE PROFIT!! | 39 | |
| 13849612078 | Subsistence Agriculture | When farmers grow food crops to feed themselves and their families. Farm output is targeted to survival and is mostly for local requirements with little or no surplus trade. ** FARM FOR THE FAM(ILY) | 40 | |
| 13849624508 | Superfund | A program designed to fund the cleanup fo sites contaminated with hazardous substances and pollutants. Superfund is named as such because it is like a trust fund for CLEANING UP HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES - Established by Congress in 1980. ** As of April 2017, there are 115 in New Jersey! | 41 | |
| 13849647603 | Coral Bleaching | A coral becomes stressed from warmer water temperatures which cause the coral to expel the algae living in their tissues, causing the coral to turn completely white. | 42 | |
| 13849666001 | Ocean Acidification | Refers to a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. A term used to describe significant changes to the chemistry of the ocean. It occurs when CO2 is absorbed by the ocean and reacts with seawater to produce acid. CO2 + H2O = H2CO3 (CARBONIC ACID) | 43 | |
| 13849678699 | Niche | The specific area where an organism inhabits. The role or function of an organism or species in an ecosystem. The interrelationship of a species with all the biotic and abiotic factors affecting it. "WAY OF LIFE" | 44 | |
| 13849689539 | Interspecific Competition | A form of competition in which individuals of different species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). | 45 | |
| 13849696715 | Resource Partitioning | Competitive exclusion may be avoided if one or both of the competing species evolves to use a different resource, occupy a different area of the habitat, or feed during a different time of the day. | 46 | |
| 13849711072 | Competitive Exclusion Principle | Two species can't have exactly the same niche in a habitat and stably coexist. | 47 | |
| 13849726261 | Ecological Organization (smallest to largest) | Organism - Population/Species - Community - Ecosystem - Biosphere | 48 | |
| 13849714975 | Organism | An individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form; any individual entity that exhibits the property of life. | 49 | |
| 13849735284 | Population/Species | A group of organisms that interbreed and live in the same place at the same time. A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. | 50 | |
| 13849748952 | Community | An interacting group of various species in a common location. | 51 | |
| 13849758149 | Ecosystem | A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. | 52 | |
| 13849765947 | Biosphere | The regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms. | 53 | |
| 13849782894 | Keystone Species | A species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically. EX. Wolves controlling the population of deer | 54 | |
| 13849803051 | Foundation Species | Usually a primary producer that dominates an ecosystem in abundance and influence; used to refer to a species that has a strong role in structuring a community. EX. Beavers building a dam AND Elephants clearing land as they walk. | 55 | |
| 13849814758 | Functional Redundancy | A characteristic of species within an ecosystem where certain species contribute in equivalent ways to an ecosystem function such that one species may substitute for another. | 56 | |
| 13849833350 | Soil Horizons | Horizontal layers that reveal a soil's history, characteristics, and usefulness O - Organic A - Topsoil E- Eluviation B - Subsoil C- Parent Material R- Bedrock | 57 | |
| 13849831800 | Parent Material | The underlying geological material (generally bedrock or a superficial or drift deposit) in which soil horizons form. | 58 | |
| 13849877724 | Weathering (3 Types) | Weathering is the breakdown of rocks at the Earth's surface. ---> Physical (Mechanical) - breaking down of larger rock into smaller rocks like with a hammer! ---> Chemical - a chemical reaction occurs in the rock causing it to dissolve and form new substances. ---> Biological - disintegration of rocks due to the actions of plants/animals like lichen! | 59 | |
| 13849905679 | Soil Characterization | TEXTURE STRUCTURE pH | 60 | |
| 13849907154 | Soil Particles (smallest to largest) | Clay, silt, sand, gravel | 61 | |
| 13849911713 | Eluviation | The transport of soil material from upper layers of soil to lower levels of soil by downward precipitation of water across soil horizons, and accumulation of this material (illuvial deposit) in lower levels is called illuviation. | 62 | |
| 13849921700 | Erosion | Removal of material from one place and its transport elsewhere i.e. by wind or water. | 63 | |
| 13849926397 | 4 Types of Erosion | Splash - Abrasion Sheet - Attrition Rill - Hydraulic Action Gull - Solution | 64 | |
| 13849931182 | Deposition | Arrival of eroded material at a new location | 65 | |
| 13849935996 | Desertification | The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture. | 66 | |
| 13849939612 | The Dust Bowl | 1930 - 1936 The name given to the drought-stricken Southern Plains region of the US which suffered severe dust storms during a dry period in the 1930s. Texas to Nebraska, people and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region. It intensified the crushing impacts of the Great Depression. | 67 | |
| 13849954123 | US Conservation Act of 1935 | Enacted on February 29, 1936 - US Federal Law that allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to conserve soil and prevent erosion. | 68 | |
| 13849962020 | Tillage | The preparation of land for growing crops. | 69 | |
| 13849964577 | Soil Compaction | The process in which a stress applied to soil causes densification as a air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. | 70 | |
| 13849971076 | National Grasslands | A classification of protected and managed federal lands in the US authorized by Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937. | 71 | |
| 13849987624 | Crop Rotation | Alternating different kinds of crops in order to preserve soil fertility; alternating the crop planted can restore nutrients to soil and fight pests and disease. | 72 | |
| 13849993794 | Contour Farming | Planting along contour lines of slopes helps reduce erosion of hillsides. | 73 | |
| 13849996366 | Intercropping (aka Stripcropping) | Mixing crops such as in stripcropping can provide nutrients and reduce erosion. ** Going back and forth between corn and grass | 74 | |
| 13850013133 | Stripcropping | Cultivation in which different crops are sown in different strips to prevent soil erosion. | 75 | |
| 13850019598 | Terracing | Cutting stair-steps, or terraces, is the only way to farm extremely steep hillsides without causing massive erosion. | 76 | |
| 13850026062 | Shelterbelts | Rows of fast-growing trees around crop plantings provide windbreaks, reducing erosion by wind. | 77 | |
| 13850035228 | Conservation Tillage | No till or reduced till leaves old crop material on the ground instead of plowing it into the soil. This covers the soil, keeping it in place. * BAD because ! Requires more herbicides because weeks are not plowed under. ! Requires more fertilizer. | 78 | |
| 13850050240 | Shifting Cultivation | (Swidden Agriculture)(Slash and Burn) A technique of rotational farming in which land is cleared for cultivation (normally by fire) and left to regenerate for the next few years. | 79 | |
| 13850088129 | Kyoto Protocol | Signed December 11, 1997 but really put into effect February 2005 - controlling global warming by setting greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries | 80 | |
| 13850092916 | Montreal Protocol | (1987) phase-out of ozone depleting substances; meeting in 1987 where a group of nations met in Canada and agreed to take steps to fight against Ozone Depletion-CFC's banned | 81 | |
| 13850113379 | Renewable Resources | Any natural resource that can replenish itself in a relatively short period of time, usually no longer than the length of a human life. EX. Sun, water, wind, etc. | 82 | |
| 13860259839 | Renewable Energy Resources | EROEI = Energy Returned Over Energy Invested - Determines if we economically should use that source. (Coal has an 80:1 as in we invest a small bit of energy and money but get a lot back). **Wind Power! Has the greatest potential, especially when looking at offshore wind turbines - 18:1 **Hydroelectric Power! - 100:1 on LARGE scale - Waves and Tides 15:1 **Hydrogen Power! - Separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and then put them on either side of an electrolyte, as they flow together, it creates electricity BUT it's less than 1:1 -Fuel cells **Geothermal Energy! - Using heat from the earth - 9:1 Could use a heat pump **Solar Energy! - Passive - Just letting it in and holding it like to heat house - Active - using it to warm up something like water in thermal heating system (1.9:1) ---Photovoltaic - 6.8:1 - huge growth in technology ---Concentrated like creating steam large scale 9:1 **Biomass and Biofuels! - 25:1 (Solid) Wood and Charcoal - NOT SUSTAINABLE - they lead to deforestation and carbon monoxide - 1.3:1 (Liquid) Biodiesel and ethanol | 83 | |
| 13860617895 | Old Growth Forest | A complex forest that has developed over a long period of time and is relatively untouched by human activity; one that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years. ** Currently just 5 countries (Russia, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, and Papau New Guinea) have 75% of the world's old growth forests. | 84 | |
| 13860644463 | Second Growth Forest | A forest that has been cut and has regrown; a stand of trees resulting from secondary ecological succession | 85 | |
| 13860651082 | Even Aged Management | Trees in a given stand are maintained at about the same age and size; Method of forest management in which trees, sometimes of a single species in a given stand, are maintained at about the same age and size and are harvested all at once. BRINGS IN MORE MONEY | 86 | |
| 13860658369 | Uneven Aged Management | Method of forest management in which trees of different species in a given stand are maintained at many ages and sizes to permit continuous natural regeneration; the broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation. Results in MORE biodiversity and GENETIC diversity | 87 | |
| 13860720350 | Lumber/Timber Harvesting Techniques | There are three major groups of timber harvest practices; clearcutting, shelterwood and selection systems. While each are different and are applied to specific forest types, they have three things in common: 1. They provide wood fiber for thousands of every-day products. 2. They establish environmental conditions that encourage the natural regeneration of the forest. 3. They enhance the ecological, economic and social values of the future forest. | 88 | |
| 13860772443 | Lumber Harvest Techniques (Definitions) | * Selective cutting - removing the middle-aged and mature trees from the forest, which allows for its natural regeneration and protects against erosion. - Sometimes criticized due to damage falling trees have on remaining trees. * Shelterwood cutting - removal of all the mature trees in a period of 2 or 3 cuttings. * Seed tree cutting - removes about half the trees but leaves the other half to reseed the area. * Clear-cutting - remove all the trees from an area in one cutting. This leaves the land bare and prone to erosion! * Strip cutting - A variation on clear-cutting that can allow sustainable yield. The strip is narrow enough to allow surrounding trees to reseed it. *Whole-tree harvesting - entire tree, roots and all, is removed. Deprives soils of nutrients. | 89 | |
| 13861035044 | Ecosystem Services | The process by which natural environments provide life-supporting resources. "Nature's Benefit" * Supporting - materials necessary for the production of other ecosystem services * Provisioning - products gained from ecosystem * Regulating - benefits obtained from processes such as air or climate regulation * Cultural - nonmaterial benefits derived by humans | 90 | |
| 13861123313 | Direct Ecosystem Services | Things we get directly from biodiversity: - shelter - food/energy - clothing, medicine - genetic resources - fiber and wood - transportation - atmospheric oxygen - medicine sources | 91 | |
| 13861168577 | Indirect Ecosystem Services | delivered to us by healthy ecosystems: - flood control from mangroves - climate modulation - pollination - primary production - clean air - soil formation - nutrient cycling - hydrological cycle - pollination - gas regulation - disturbance regulation - disease regulation - water purification | 92 | |
| 13861215103 | r-selected species | TURTLES maximizing growth rate - not much parental care - high offspring mortality - most offspring die - usually smaller - increased offspring dispersal - fast development rate | 93 | |
| 13861228681 | K-selected species | HUMANS gradually increase to carrying capacity - slow development - low reproductive rate -late reproductive age - large body size long lifespan low offspring mortality relatively steady population size near the carrying capacity - presence in mature, undisturbed habitats - good parental care | 94 |
