APES Midterm Vocab Flashcards

16424082935	aquifer	A permeable layer of rock and sediment that contains groundwater	0
16424082936	unconfined aquifer	an aquifer made of porous rock covered by soil out of which water can easily flow	1
16424082937	confined aquifer	an aquifer surrounded by a layer of impermeable rock or clay that impedes water flow	2
16424082938	water table	the uppermost level at which the water in a given area fully saturates rock or soil	3
16424082939	groundwater recharge	A process by which water percolates through the soil and works its way into an aquifer.	4
16424082940	spring	A natural source of water formed when water from an aquifer percolates up to the ground surface.	5
16424082941	Artesian well	a well created by drilling a hole into a confined aquifer	6
16424082942	cone of depression	an area lacking groundwater due to rapid withdrawal by a well	7
16424082943	saltwater intrusion	an infiltration of salt water in an area where groundwater pressure has been reduced from extensive drilling of wells	8
16424082944	floodplain	The land adjacent to a river	9
16424082945	impermeable surface	pavement or buildings that do not allow water penetration	10
16424082946	levee	An enlarged bank built up on each side of a river	11
16424082947	dike	A structure built to prevent ocean waters from flooding adjacent land	12
16424082948	dam	a barrier that runs across a river or stream to control the flow of water	13
16424082949	reservoir	the water body created by a damming a river or stream	14
16424082950	fish ladder	a stair-like structure that allows migrating fish to get around a dam	15
16424082951	aqueduct	A canal or ditch used to carry water from one location to another	16
16424082952	desalination	process of removing salt from salt water	17
16424082953	distillation	A process of desalination in which water is boiled and the resulting steam is captured and condensed to yield pure water	18
16424082954	reverse osmosis	a process of desalination in which water is forced through a thin semipermeable membrane at high pressure	19
16424082955	water footprint	the total daily per capita use of fresh water	20
16424082956	hydroponic agriculture	the cultivation of plants in greenhouse conditions by immersing roots in a nutrient-rich solution	21
16424082957	gray water	wastewater from baths, showers, bathrooms, and washing machines	22
16424082958	contaminated water	wastewater from toilets, kitchen sinks, and dishwashers	23
16424082959	air pollution	the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or microorganisms into the atmosphere at concentrations high enough to harm plants, animals, and materials such as buildings, or to alter ecosystems	24
16424082960	particulate matter	solid or liquid particles suspended in air	25
16424082961	haze	reduced visibility	26
16424082962	photochemical oxidant	a class of air pollutants formed as a result of sunlight acting on compounds such as nitrogen oxides	27
16424082963	ozone	A secondary pollutant made up of three oxygen atoms bound together.	28
16424082964	smog	A type of air pollution that is a mixture of oxidants and particulate matter	29
16424082965	photochemical smog	Smog that is dominated by oxidants such as ozone. Also known as Los Angeles-type smog; Brown smog.	30
16424082966	sulfurous smog	Smog dominated by sulfur dioxide and sulfate compounds. London-type smog.	31
16424082967	volatile organic compound	An organic compound that evaporates at typical atmospheric temperatures.	32
16424082968	primary pollutant	a polluting compound that comes directly out of a smokestack, exhaust pipe, or natural emission source	33
16424082969	secondary pollutant	A primary pollutant that has undergone transformation in the presence of sunlight, water, oxygen, or other compounds	34
16424082970	thermal inversion	A situation in which a relatively warm layer of air at mid-altitude covers a layer of cold, dense air below.	35
16424082971	inversion layer	the layer of warm air that traps emissions in a thermal inversion	36
16424082972	asbestos	A long, thin, fibrous silicate mineral with insulating properties, which can cause cancer when inhaled.	37
16424082973	sick building syndrome	a buildup of toxic pollutants in an airtight space, seen in newer buildings	38
16424082974	global change	change that occurs in the chemical, biological, and physical properties of the planet	39
16424082975	global climate change	changes in the average weather that occurs in an area over a period of years or decades	40
16424082976	global warming	The warming of the oceans, land masses, and atmosphere of Earth.	41
16424082977	greenhouse effect	Absorption of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases and reradiation of the energy back toward Earth.	42
16424082978	greenhouse warming potential	An estimate of how much a molecule of any compound can contribute to global warming over a period of 100 years relative to a molecule of CO2.	43
16424082979	ocean acidification	The process by which an increase in ocean CO2 causes more CO2 to be converted to carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the water.	44
16424082980	Kyoto Protocol	An international agreement to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases from all industrialized countries to 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012	45
16424082981	carbon sequestration	an approach to stabilizing greenhouse gases by removing CO2 from the atmosphere	46
16424082982	climate	the average weather that occurs in a given region over a long period of time	47
16424082983	weather	the short-term conditions of the atmosphere in a local area, which include temperature, humidity, clouds, precipitation, and wind speed	48
16424082984	troposphere	the layer of the atmosphere closest to Earth's surface	49
16424082985	stratosphere	the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere	50
16424082986	albedo	the percentage of incoming sunlight reflected from a surface	51
16424082987	saturation point	The maximum amount of water vapor in the air at a given temperature.	52
16424082988	adiabatic cooling	the cooling effect of reduced pressure on air as it rises higher in the atmosphere and expands	53
16424082989	adiabatic heating	the heating effect of increased pressure on air as it sinks toward the surface of Earth and decreases in volume	54
16424082990	latent heat release	the release of energy when water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into liquid water	55
16424082991	atmospheric convection current	global patterns of air movement that are initiated by the unequal heating of Earth	56
16424082992	Hadley cell	A convection current in the atmosphere that cycles between the equator and 30° N and 30° S.	57
16424082993	intertropical convergence zone	the latitude that receives the most intense sunlight, which causes the ascending branches of the two Hadley cells to converge	58
16424082994	polar cell	A convection current in the atmosphere, formed by air that rises at 60 degrees N and 60 degrees S and sinks at the poles, 90 degrees N and 90 degrees S	59
16424082995	Ferrel cell	A convection current in the atmosphere that lies between Hadley cells and polar cells	60
16424082996	Coriolis effect	the deflection of an object's path due to the rotation of Earth	61
16424082997	rain shadow	a region with dry conditions found on the leeward side of a mountain range as a result of humid winds from the ocean causing precipitation on the windward side	62
16424082998	gyre	A large-scale pattern of water circulation that moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere	63
16424082999	upwelling	the upward movement of ocean water toward the surface as a result of diverging currents	64
16424083000	thermohaline circulation	an oceanic circulation pattern that drives the mixing of surface water and deep water	65
16424083001	El Nino-Southern Oscillation	A reversal of wind and water currents in the South Pacific	66
16424083002	terrestrial biome	A geographic region categorized by a particular combination of average annual temperature, annual precipitation, and distinctive plant growth forms on land	67
16424083003	aquatic biome	an aquatic region characterized by a particular combination of salinity, depth, and water flow	68
16424083004	tundra	A cold and treeless biome with low-growing vegetation.	69
16424083005	permafrost	an impermeable, permanently frozen layer of soil	70
16424083006	boreal forest	A forest biome made up primarily of coniferous evergreen trees that can tolerate cold winters and short growing seasons	71
16424083007	temperate rainforest	a coastal biome typified by moderate temperatures and high precipitation	72
16424083008	temperate seasonal forest	A biome with warm summers and cold winters with over 1 m (39 inches) of precipitation annually.	73
16424083009	woodland/shrubland	a biome characterized by hot, dry summer and mild, rainy winters	74
16424083010	temperate grassland/cold desert	A biome characterized by cold, harsh winters, and hot, dry summers.	75
16424083011	tropical rainforest	a warm and wet biome found between 20 degrees N and 20 degrees S of the equator, with little seasonal temperature variation and high precipitation	76
16424083012	tropical seasonal forest/savanna	a biome marked by warm temperatures and distinct wet and dry seasons	77
16424083013	subtropical desert	A biome prevailing at approximately 30° N and 30° S, with hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation.	78
16424083014	littoral zone	the shallow zone of soil and water in lakes and ponds where most algae and emergent plants grow	79
16424083015	limnetic zone	a zone of open water in lakes and ponds	80
16424083016	phytoplankton	floating algae	81
16424083017	profundal zone	a region of water where sunlight does not reach, below the limnetic zone in very deep lakes	82
16424083018	benthic zone	the muddy bottom of a lake, pond, or ocean	83
16424083019	oligotrophic	Describes a lake with a low level of productivity	84
16424083020	mesotrophic	Describes a lake with a moderate level of productivity	85
16424083021	eutrophic	Describes a lake with a high level of productivity	86
16424083022	freshwater wetlands	An aquatic biome that is submerged or saturated by water for at least part of each year, but shallow enough to support emergent vegetation.	87
16424083023	salt marsh	A marsh containing nonwoody emergent vegetation, found along the coast in temperate climates.	88
16424083024	mangrove swamp	A swamp that occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts, and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water.	89
16424083025	intertidal zone	the narrow band of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide	90
16424083026	coral reef	The most diverse marine biome on Earth, found in warm, shallow waters beyond the shoreline.	91
16424083027	coral bleeching	A phenomenon in which algae inside corals die, causing the corals to turn white.	92
16424083028	open ocean	deep ocean water, located away from the shoreline where sunlight can no longer reach the ocean bottom	93
16424083029	photic zone	the upper layer of water in the ocean that receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis	94
16424083030	aphotic zone	The deeper layer of ocean water that lacks sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis	95
16424083031	chemosynthesis	A process used by some bacteria in the ocean to generate energy with methane and hydrogen sulfide.	96
16424083032	matter	anything that occupies space and has mass	97
16424083033	mass	a measurement of the amount of matter an object contains	98
16424083034	atom	the smallest particle that can contain the chemical properties of an element	99
16424083035	element	a substance composed of atoms that cannot be broken down into smaller, simpler components	100
16424083036	periodic table	A chart of all chemical elements currently known, organized by their properties.	101
16424083037	molecule	a particle that contains more than one atom	102
16424083038	compound	a molecule containing more than one element	103
16424083039	atomic number	the number of protons in the nucleus of a particular element	104
16424083040	mass number	a measurement of the total number of protons and neutrons in an element	105
16424083041	isotopes	atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons	106
16424083042	radioactive decay	the spontaneous release of material from the nucleus of radioactive isotopes	107
16424083043	half-life	the time it takes for one-half of an original radioactive parent atom to decay	108
16424083044	covalent bond	the bond formed when elements share electrons	109
16424083045	ionic bond	a chemical bond between two ions of opposite charges	110
16424083046	hydrogen bond	a weak chemical bond that forms when hydrogen atoms that are covalently bonded to one atom are attracted to another atom on another molecule	111
16424083047	polar molecule	a molecule in which one side is more positive and the other side is more negative	112
16424083048	surface tension	a property of water that results from the cohesion of water molecules at the surface of a body of water and that creates a sort of skin on the water's surface	113
16424083049	capillary action	a property of water that occurs when adhesion of water molecules to a surface is stronger than cohesion between the molecules	114
16424083050	acid	a substance that contributes hydrogen ions to a solution	115
16424083051	base	a substance that contributes hydroxide ions to a solution	116
16424083052	pH	the number that indicates the relative strength of acids and bases in a substance	117
16424083053	chemical reaction	a reaction that occurs when atoms separate from molecules or recombine with other molecules	118
16424083054	law of conservation of matter	A law of nature stating that matter cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form	119
16424083055	inorganic compound	a compound that does not contain the element carbon or contains carbon bound to elements other than hydrogen	120
16424083056	organic compound	a compound that contains carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds	121
16424083057	carbohydrate	a compound composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms	122
16424083058	protein	A critical component of living organisms made up of a long chain of nitrogen-containing organic molecules known as amino acids	123
16424083059	nucleic acid	organic compound found in all living cells	124
16424083060	DNA	A nucleic acid, the genetic material that contains the code for reproducing the components of the next generation, and which organisms pass on to their offspring.	125
16424083061	RNA	a nucleic acid that translates the code stored in DNA, which makes possible the synthesis of proteins	126
16424083062	lipid	a smaller organic biological molecule that does not mix with water	127
16424083063	cell	a highly organized living entity that consists of the four types of macromolecules and other substances in a watery solution, surrounded by a membrane	128
16424083064	energy	the ability to do work or transfer heat	129
16424083065	joule	the amount of energy used when a one-watt electrical device is turned on for one second	130
16424083066	power	the rate at which work is done	131
16424083067	work	Force exerted on an object that causes it to move	132
16424083068	electromagnetic radiation	a form of energy emitted by the sun that includes, but is not limited to, visible light, ultraviolet light, and infrared energy	133
16424083069	photon	a massless packet of energy that carries electromagnetic radiation at the speed of light	134
16424083070	potential energy	stored energy that has not been released	135
16424083071	chemical energy	potential energy stored in chemical bonds	136
16424083072	kinetic energy	the energy of motion	137
16424083073	temperature	the measure of the average kinetic energy of a substance	138
16424083074	first law of thermodynamics	A physical law which states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can change from one form to another	139
16424083075	second law of thermodynamics	the physical law stating that when energy is transformed, the quantity of energy remains the same, but its ability to do work diminishes	140
16424083076	energy efficiency	The ratio of the amount of energy expended in the form you want to the total amount of energy that is introduced into the system	141
16424083077	energy quality	the ease with which an energy source can be used for work	142
16424083078	entropy	randomness in a system	143
16424083079	open system	a system in which exchanges of matter or energy occur across system boundaries	144
16424083080	closed system	a system in which matter and energy exchanges do not occur across boundaries	145
16424083081	input	an addition to a system	146
16424083082	output	a loss from a system	147
16424083083	systems analysis	an analysis to determine inputs, outputs, and changes in a system under various conditions	148
16424083084	steady state	a state in which inputs equal outputs, so that the system is not changing over time	149
16424083085	negative feedback loop	A feedback loop in which a system responds to a change by returning to its original state, or by decreasing the rate at which the change is occurring.	150
16424083086	positive feedback loop	a feedback loop in which change in a system is amplified	151
16424083087	adaptive management plan	a plan that provides flexibility so that managers can modify it as changes occur	152
16424083088	biosphere	The region of our planet where life resides, the combination of all ecosystems on Earth.	153
16424083089	producer	An organism that uses the energy of the Sun to produce usable forms of energy. Also known as Autotroph.	154
16424083090	photosynthesis	The process by which producers use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose	155
16424083091	cellular respiration	The process by which cells unlock the energy of chemical compounds	156
16424083092	aerobic respiration	The process by which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, carbon dioxide, and water.	157
16424083093	consumer	An organism that is incapable of photosynthesis and must obtain its energy by consuming other organisms (also known as heterotroph)	158
16424083094	herbivore	A consumer that eats producers (also known as Primary consumer)	159
16424083095	carnivore	A consumer that eats other consumers	160
16424083096	secondary consumer	a carnivore that eats primary consumers	161
16424083097	tertiary consumer	A carnivore that eats secondary consumers	162
16424083098	trophic levels	the successive levels of organisms consuming one another	163
16424083099	food chain	the sequence of consumption from producers through tertiary consumers	164
16424083100	food web	A complex model of how energy and matter move between trophic levels	165
16424083101	scavenger	An organism that consumes dead animals	166
16424083102	detritivore	An organism that specializes in breaking down dead tissues and waste products into smaller particles	167
16424083103	decomposers	fungi and bacteria that convert organic matter into small elements and molecules that can be recycled back into the ecosystem	168
16424083104	gross primary productivity	The total amount of solar energy that producers in an ecosystem capture via photosynthesis over a given amount of time	169
16424083105	net primary productivity	the energy captured by producers in an ecosystem minus the energy producers respire	170
16424083106	biomass	the total mass of all living matter in a specific area	171
16424083107	standing crop	the amount of biomass present in an ecosystem at a particular time	172
16424083108	ecological efficiency	the proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another	173
16424083109	trophic pyramid	A representation of the distribution of biomass, numbers, or energy among trophic levels	174
16424083110	biogeochemical cycle	the movements of matter within and between ecosystems	175
16424083111	hydrologic cycle	the movement of water through the biosphere	176
16424083112	transpiration	the release of water from leaves during photosynthesis	177
16424083113	evapotranspiration	The combined amount of evaporation and transpiration	178
16424083114	runoff	Water that moves across the land surface and into streams and rivers	179
16424083115	carbon cycle	The movement of carbon around the biosphere	180
16424083116	macronutrient	One of six key elements that organisms need in relatively large amounts: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.	181
16424083117	limiting nutrient	a nutrient required for the growth of an organism but available in a lower quantity than other nutrients	182
16424083118	nitrogen cycle	The movement of nitrogen around the biosphere	183
16424083119	nitrogen fixation	A process by which some organisms can convert nitrogen gas molecules directly into ammonia	184
16424083120	nitrification	the conversion of ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate	185
16424083121	assimilation	The process by which producers incorporate elements into their tissues	186
16424083122	mineralization	The process by which fungal and bacterial decomposers break down the organic matter found in dead bodies and waste products and convert it into inorganic compounds	187
16424083123	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	188
16424083124	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	189
16424083125	leaching	the transportation of dissolved molecules through the soil via groundwater	190
16424083126	phosphorous cycle	the movement of phosphorous around the biosphere	191
16424083127	algal bloom	A rapid increase in the algal population of a waterway	192
16424083128	hypoxic	low in oxygen	193
16424083129	sulfur cycle	the movement of sulfur around the biosphere	194
16424083130	disturbance	an event, caused by physical, chemical, or biological agents, resulting in changes in population size or community composition	195
16424083131	watershed	all land in a given landscape that drains into a particular stream, river, lake, or wetland	196
16424083132	resistance	a measure of how much a disturbance can affect flows of energy and matter in an ecosystem	197
16424083133	resilience	the rate at which an ecosystem returns to its original state after a disturbance	198
16424083134	restoration ecology	the study and implementation of restoring damaged ecosystems	199
16424083135	intermediate disturbance hypothesis	the hypothesis that ecosystems experiencing intermediate levels of disturbance are more diverse than those with high or low disturbance levels	200
16424083136	well-being	the status of being health, happy, and prosperous	201
16424083137	economics	the study of how humans allocate scarce resources in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services	202
16424083138	genuine progress indicator	A measure of economic status that includes personal consumption, income distribution, levels of higher education, resource depletion, pollution, and the health of the population.	203
16424083139	technology transfer	The phenomenon of less developed countries adopting technological innovations that originated in wealthy countries.	204
16424083140	leapfrogging	the phenomenon of less developed countries using new technology without first using the precursor technology	205
16424083141	natural capital	the resources of the planet, such as air, water, and minerals	206
16424083142	human capital	human knowledge and abilities	207
16424083143	manufactured capital	all goods and services that humans produce	208
16424083144	market failure	when the economic system does not account for all costs	209
16424083145	environmental economics	a subfield of economics that examines costs and benefits of various policies and regulations that seek to regulate or limit air and water pollution and other causes of environmental degradation	210
16424083146	ecological economics	the study of economics as a component of ecological systems	211
16424083147	valuation	The practice of assigning monetary value to seemingly intangible benefits and natural capital.	212
16424083148	environmental worldview	A worldview that encompasses how people think the world works, how they view their role in it, and what they believe to be proper environmental behavior.	213
16424083149	anthropocentric worldview	A worldview that focuses on human welfare and well-being.	214
16424083150	stewardship	The careful and responsible management of Earth and its resources.	215
16424083151	biocentric worldview	A worldview that holds that humans are just one of many species on Earth, all of which have equal intrinsic value.	216
16424083152	ecocentric worldview	a worldview that places equal value on all living organisms and the ecosystems in which they live	217
16424083153	human development index	a measurement index that combines three basic measures of human status: life expectancy, knowledge, and education.	218
16424083154	human poverty index	A measurement index developed by the United Nations to investigate the proportion of a population suffering from deprivation in a country with a high HDI	219
16424083155	command-and-control approach	a strategy for pollution control that involves regulations and enforcement mechanisms	220
16424083156	incentive-based approach	a strategy for pollution control that constructs financial and other incentives for lowering emissions based on profits and benefits	221
16424083157	green tax	a tax placed on environmentally harmful activities or emissions in an attempt to internalize some of the externalities that may be involved in the life cycle of those activities or products	222
16424083158	triple bottom line	An approach to sustainability that advocates consideration of economic, environmental, and social factors when making decisions about business, the economy, the environment, and development.	223
16424083159	fracking	hydraulic fracturing, a method of oil and gas extraction that uses high-pressure fluids to force open cracks in rocks deep underground	224
16424083160	environment	the sum of all the conditions surrounding us that influence life	225
16424083161	environmental science	the field of study that looks at interactions among human systems and those found in nature	226
16424083162	ecosystem	a particular location on Earth distinguished by its mix of interacting biotic and abiotic components	227
16424083163	biotic	living	228
16424083164	abiotic	nonliving	229
16424083165	environmentalist	a person who participates in environmentalism, a social movement that seeks to protect the environment through lobbying, activism, and education	230
16424083166	environmental studies	The field of study that includes environmental science and additional subjects such as environmental policy, economics, literature, and ethics.	231
16424083167	ecosystem services	the processes by which life-supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced	232
16424083168	environmental indicator	an indicator that describes the current state of an environmental system	233
16424083169	Biodiversity	the diversity of life forms in an environment	234
16424083170	genetic diversity	a measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population	235
16424083171	species	a group of organisms that is distinct from other groups in its morphology (body form and structure), behavior, or biochemical properties	236
16424083172	species diversity	the number of species in a region or in a particular type of habitat	237
16424083173	speciation	the evolution of new species	238
16424083174	background extinction rate	The average rate at which species become extinct over the long term	239
16424083175	greenhouse gases	Gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat near the surface	240
16424083176	anthropogenic	derived from human activities	241
16424083177	development	improvement in human well-being through economic advancement	242
16424083178	sustainability	Living on Earth in a way that allows humans to use its resources without depriving future generations of those resources	243
16424083179	sustainable development	development that balances current human well-being and economic advancement with resource management for the benefit of future generations	244
16424083180	biophilia	love of life	245
16424083181	ecological footprint	a measure of how much an individual consumes, expressed in area of land	246
16424083182	scientific method	an objective method to explore the natural world, draw inferences from it, and predict the outcome of certain events, processes, or changes	247
16424083183	hypothesis	a testable conjecture about how something works	248
16424083184	null hypothesis	A prediction that there is no difference between groups or conditions, or a statement or an idea that can be falsified, or proved wrong.	249
16424083185	replication	The data collection procedure of taking repeated measurements	250
16424083186	sample size	the number of times a measurement is replicated in data collection	251
16424083187	accuracy	how close a measurement is to the true value	252
16424083188	precision	how close the repeated measurements of a sample are to one another	253
16424083189	uncertainty	an estimate of how much a measured or calculated value differs from a true value	254
16424083190	theory	a hypothesis that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by multiple groups of researchers and has reached wide acceptance	255
16424083191	control group	In a scientific investigation, a group that experiences exactly the same conditions as the experimental group, except for the single variable under study.	256
16424083192	natural experiment	a natural event that acts as an experimental treatment in an ecosystem	257