APES Semester Study Guide Flashcards

5714391699	Climate	Average weather that occurs in a region over a long period.	0
5714391701	Troposphere	Most of the N2, O2 and H2O vapor is here. Densest Layer of Atmosphere. Where weather occurs.	1
5714391702	Stratosphere	Less dense. Ozone is formed here. Blocks UV radiation	2
5714391711	Polar Cells	Air currents above 60 degrees North and South	3
5714391712	Coriolis Effect	The deflection of an objects path due to Earth's rotation	4
5714391718	Biome	Particular combination of average annual temperature and annual precipitation and contain distinctive plant growth forms that are adapted to its climate.	5
5714391754	el nino	this phenomenon is characterized by weakened trade winds and a lack of upwelling in the Pacific Ocean	6
5714391755	la nina	this phenomenon is characterized by strong trade winds and upwelling in the Pacific Ocean	7
5714391799	Law of Conservation of Matter	The principle that the total amount of matter is constant during any physical or chemical change (matter is neither created nor destroyed during these types of changes).	8
5714391800	1st Law of Thermodynamics	The principle of conservation of energy. Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.	9
5714391801	2nd Law of Thermodynamics	Every energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy of the universe.	10
5714391802	Entropy	A measure of disorder or randomness and a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, that is a measure of the energy that is not available for work during a thermodynamic process	11
5714391803	Organism	A living thing	12
5714391804	Species	Comprising related organisms that share common characteristics and are capable of interbreeding.	13
5714391805	Population	A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area	14
5714391806	Community	an interacting group of various species in a common location. For example, a forest of trees and undergrowth plants, inhabited by animals and rooted in soil containing bacteria and fungi	15
5714391808	Producers	Make their own food	16
5714391809	Autotrophs	any organism capable of self-nourishment by using inorganic materials as a source of nutrients and using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis as a source of energy, as most plants and certain bacteria and protists.	17
5714391810	Consumers	An organism that obtains energy and nutrients by feeding on other organisms or their remains.	18
5714391811	Heterotrophs	An organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their by-products.	19
5714391826	Climate Change	Change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over periods of decades	20
5714391861	population	composed of all individuals that belong to the same species and live in a given area at a particular time	21
5714391862	community	incorporates all of the populations of organisms within a given area; how species interact within; all biotic and abiotic components in a location	22
5714391865	population density	the number of individuals per unit area (or volume for aquatic organisms) at a given time; help science estimate if species is rare/abundant- wild life managers for hunting	23
5714391869	density-dependent factors	influences an individual's probability of survival and reproduction in a manner that DEPENDS on the SIZE of the population	24
5714391870	density-independent factors	have the same effect on an individuals probability of survival and amount of reproduction at ANY POPULATION SIZE	25
5714391871	limiting resource	a resource that a population cannot live without and which occurs in quantities lower than the population would require to increase in size	26
5714391872	carrying capacity; k	population growth slowed as population size increased because there was a limit to how many individuals the food supply could sustain	27
5714391879	k-selected species	populations increase slowly until they reach the carrying capacity (k) of the environment; population fluctuation = small (reproductive strategy); typically large and reach reproductive maturity relatively late, produce few large offspring, provide substantial parental care, slow pop growth rate (Ex. large mammals like elephants, birds)	28
5714391880	r-selected species	reproduce often and produce large numbers of offspring; reproduce often, large number of offspring, rapid population growth, little or no parental care, are reproductively mature young. Mostly small organisms: small fish, rats, many insects-cockroaches, weedy-plant species-dandelions.(reproductive strategy)	29
5714391889	competition	the struggle of individuals to obtain a shared-limiting resource; Gause experiments saw only one organism thrive when two put together	30
5714391890	competitive exclusion principle	states that two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot coexist; when they have same realized niche one will preform better and try the other to extinction	31
5714391891	resource partitioning	where two species divide a resource based on differences in the species' behavior or morphology	32
5714391892	predation	interactions in which one animal kills and consumes another animal, refers to the use of one species as a resource by another species; predator control of prey population;	33
5714391893	predator	an animal that kills and consumes another animal	34
5714391894	herbivore	animal that consumes plants as prey	35
5714391895	herbivory	an interaction in which an animal consumes a producer; typically each only a portion of a producer without killing;	36
5714391896	parasites	organisms that live on or in the organisms they consume; a single parasite rarely cause the death of the host;	37
5714391898	parasitism	interaction in which one organism lives on or in another organism- referred to as a "host"	38
5714391899	mutualism	when two interacting species benefit by increasing both species' chances of survival or reproduction; win-win	39
5714391901	commensalism	a type of relationship in which one species benefits but the other is neither harmed nor helped; Ex. birds living in a nest in a tree	40
5714391902	symbiotic relationship	the relationship of two species that live in close association with each other	41
5714391906	ecological succession	the predictable replacement of one group of species by another group of species over time	42
5714391907	primary succession	a type of ecological succession that occurs on surfaces that are initially devoid of soil	43
5714391908	secondary succession	a type of ecological succession that occurs in areas that have been disturbed but have not lost their soil, following forest-fire or hurricane	44
5714391909	pioneer species	organisms that have the ability to colonize new areas rapidly and grow well in full sunshine	45
5714391964	Ecosystem	the living and non-living components of a particular place on earth	46
5714391965	Biotic	the living part of the earth (animals and plants)	47
5714391966	Abiotic	the non-living part of the earth (soil, air, water)	48
5714391970	sustainability	living on the Earth in a way that allows us to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources.	49
5714391980	Sustainable Development	development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations	50
5714391981	In order to live sustainably	Environmental systems must not be damaged beyond their ability to recover. Renewable resources must not be depleted faster than they can regenerate. Nonrenewable resources must be used sparingly.	51
5714391982	The ecological footprint	A measure of how much a person consumes, expressed in area of land	52
5714391915	Photosynthesis	The process by which producers use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose	53
5714391916	Cellular respiration	The process by which cells unlock the energy of chemical compounds	54
5714391917	Consumer	An organism that is incapable of photosynthesis and must obtain its energy by consuming other organisms (also known as heterotroph)	55
5714391925	Detritivore	An organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissues and waste products into smaller particles	56
5714391926	Decomposers	The fungi and bacteria that complete the breakdown process by converting organic matter into small elements and molecules that can be recycled back into the ecosystem.	57
5714391929	Biomass	The total mass of all living matter in a specific area	58
5714391933	Biogeochemical cycle	The movements of matter within and between ecosystems	59
5714391934	Hydrologic cycle	The movement of water through the biosphere	60
5714391935	Transpiration	The release of water from leaves during photosynthesis	61
5714391938	Carbon Cycle	The movement of carbon around the biosphere	62
5714391940	Limiting nutrient	A nutrient required for the growth of an organism but available in a lower quantity than other nutrients	63
5714391941	Nitrogen cycle	The movement of nitrogen around the biosphere	64
5714391942	Nitrogen fixation	A process by which some organisms can convert nitrogen gas molecules directly into ammonia	65
5714391943	Nitrification	The conversion of ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate	66
5714391944	Assimilation	The process by which producers incorporate elements into their tissues	67
5714391946	Ammonification	The process by which fungal and bacterial decomposers break down the organic nitrogen found in dead bodies and waste products and convert it into inorganic ammonium	68
5714391947	Denitrification	The conversion of nitrate in a series of steps into the gases nitrous oxide and, eventually, nitrogen gas, which is emitted into the atmosphere	69
5714391949	Phosphorus cycle	The movement of phosphorus (which rarely changes form) around the biosphere	70