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AP Env.Sci. Chp. 4
AP Evn. Sci. Chp. 4
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ammonification | the production of ammonia or ammonium compounds in the decomposition of organic matter, especially through the action of bacteria. |
| Assimilation | the process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3), ammonia ions (NH4+), and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots. |
| Autotroph | producers; organisms that can produce their own organic compounds from inorganic compounds. They use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances. |
| Bioaccumulation | the accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism. |
| Biomagnifications | the process by which the concentration of toxic substances increases in each successive link in the food chain. |
| Biosphere | the part of the earth and its atmosphere where living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life. |
| Carnivore | an animal that only consumes other animals. |
| chemotroph (chemoautotroph) | an organism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds, as opposed to photosynthesis. |
| climax community | a stable, mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment. |
| Combustion | the process of burning. |
| Community | formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area. |
| competitive exclusion | the process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins. |
| Consumer | an organism that must obtain food energy from secondary sources, for example, by eating plant or animal matter. |
| Decomposer | bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material, the wastes of living organisms, and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms. |
| Denitrification | the process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NO3, NO2, and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere. |
| Detritivore | organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter, such as dead animals or fallen leaves. Earthworms and many species of fungi are detritivores. |
| ecological succession | transition in species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological commtmity in any area virtually barren of life. |
| 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. |
| energy pyramid | the structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter, from largest to smallest. |
| Evaporation | to convert or change into a vapor. |
| Evolution | change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals and resulting in the development of new species. |
| Extinction | the death of an entire species; permanent inactivity. |
| food chain | a succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and, in turn, is preyed upon by a higher member. |
| food web | a complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Habitat | the area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs. |
| habitat fragmentation | when the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced, or when development occurs that isolates a habitat. |
| Heterotroph | an organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition. |
| indigenous species | species that originate and live, or occur naturally, in an area or environment. |
| invasive species | an introduced, nonnative species. |
| 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. |
| Law of Conservation of Matter | states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. |
| Mutualism | a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit. |
| natural selection | the process by which, according to Darwin's theory of evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their environment survive and transmit their genetic characteristics to succeeding generations, while those less adapted tend to be eliminated. |
| Net Primary Productivity (NPP) | the amount of energy. that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem. |
| Niche | the total sum of a species’ use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment. |
| nitrification | the process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate, or NO3. |
| nitrogen fixation | the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds, such as ammonia, by natural agencies or various industrial processes. |
| Omnivores | organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers. |
| Parasitism | a symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed. |
| Photosynthesis | the process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source and release oxygen as a byproduct. |
| pioneer species | organisms in the first stages of succession. |
| Population | a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area. |
| Predation | when one species feeds on another. |
| primary consumers | this category includes organisms that consume producers (plants and algae). |
| primary succession | when ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area, such as the area behind a moving glacier. |
| Producer | an organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates. |
| realized niche | when a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition. |
| Reservoir | a place where a large quantity of a resource sits for a long period of time. |
| Respiration | the process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism. |
| residency time | the amount of time a resource spends in a reservoir or an exchange pool. |
| secondary consumers | organisms that consume primary consumers. |
| Species | organisms that are capable of breeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species. ' |
| symbiotic relationships | close, prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but do not necessarily, benefit the members. |
| tertiary consumers | organisms that consume secondary consumers or other tertiary consumers. |
| Transpiration | the act or process of transpiring, or releasing water vapor, especially through the stomata of plant tissue or the pores of the skin. |
| trophic level | each of the feeding levels in a food chain offspring. |
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