{ "source": "https://peabody.kids/flashcards/tp-ap-environmental-science", "id": "tp-ap-environmental-science", "title": "AP Environmental Science Key Terms", "category": "test-prep", "subject": "AP Environmental Science", "levels": [ "9-12", "college" ], "description": "Ecosystems, populations, earth systems, resources, pollution and climate.", "tags": [ "ap", "environment" ], "frontLabel": "Term", "backLabel": "Meaning", "cards": [ [ "Ecosystem", "Living things and their nonliving surroundings interacting" ], [ "Biome", "A large region defined by climate and typical plants and animals" ], [ "Producer", "An organism that makes its own food, usually by photosynthesis" ], [ "Consumer", "An organism that eats other organisms" ], [ "Decomposer", "An organism that breaks down dead matter" ], [ "Trophic level", "A feeding position in a food chain" ], [ "Ten percent rule", "About 10 percent of energy passes to the next trophic level" ], [ "Net primary productivity", "Energy stored by producers after their own use" ], [ "Food web", "Interconnected food chains" ], [ "Biodiversity", "The variety of life at genetic, species and ecosystem levels" ], [ "Keystone species", "A species with an outsized role in its ecosystem" ], [ "Indicator species", "A species whose health signals environmental condition" ], [ "Invasive species", "A non-native species that spreads and harms the ecosystem" ], [ "Ecological succession", "Gradual replacement of communities over time" ], [ "Primary succession", "Colonization of bare rock with no soil" ], [ "Secondary succession", "Regrowth after disturbance where soil remains" ], [ "Carbon cycle", "Movement of carbon among air, living things, oceans and rocks" ], [ "Nitrogen fixation", "Converting nitrogen gas into usable forms by bacteria" ], [ "Nitrogen cycle", "Movement of nitrogen through air, soil and organisms" ], [ "Phosphorus cycle", "Movement of phosphorus through rock, soil and water, with no gas phase" ], [ "Hydrologic cycle", "Circulation of water through evaporation, condensation and precipitation" ], [ "Photosynthesis", "Making sugars from carbon dioxide, water and light" ], [ "Cellular respiration", "Releasing energy from sugar using oxygen" ], [ "Carrying capacity", "Largest population an environment can sustain" ], [ "r-selected species", "Many offspring, little care, small body, short life" ], [ "K-selected species", "Few offspring, much care, large body, long life" ], [ "Limiting factor", "A resource that restricts population growth" ], [ "Population density", "Individuals per unit area" ], [ "Age structure diagram", "Graph of the population in each age group" ], [ "Total fertility rate", "Average children per woman over her lifetime" ], [ "Replacement level fertility", "About 2.1 children per woman" ], [ "Demographic transition", "Shift from high to low birth and death rates" ], [ "Plate tectonics", "Earth's crust moves in large plates" ], [ "Subduction", "One plate sliding beneath another" ], [ "Soil horizon", "A layer of soil, such as topsoil" ], [ "Soil erosion", "Removal of soil by wind or water" ], [ "Loam", "Balanced soil of sand, silt and clay" ], [ "Cation exchange capacity", "Soil's ability to hold nutrients" ], [ "Weather", "Short-term atmospheric conditions" ], [ "Climate", "Long-term pattern of weather" ], [ "Troposphere", "Lowest atmospheric layer where weather occurs" ], [ "Stratosphere", "Atmospheric layer containing the ozone layer" ], [ "Coriolis effect", "Earth's rotation bends wind and ocean currents" ], [ "El Nino", "Periodic warming of the eastern Pacific altering weather worldwide" ], [ "Thermohaline circulation", "Global ocean circulation driven by temperature and salt differences" ], [ "Rain shadow", "A dry region on the leeward side of a mountain" ], [ "Upwelling", "Rise of cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface" ], [ "Renewable resource", "A resource that replenishes naturally in human time" ], [ "Nonrenewable resource", "A resource that is used up faster than it forms" ], [ "Fossil fuels", "Coal, oil and natural gas from ancient organisms" ], [ "Peak oil", "The point of maximum oil production before decline" ], [ "Hydroelectric power", "Electricity from flowing water" ], [ "Solar photovoltaic", "Panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity" ], [ "Wind turbine", "Machine converting wind energy to electricity" ], [ "Geothermal energy", "Heat from Earth's interior used for power or heating" ], [ "Biomass", "Organic matter burned or converted for energy" ], [ "Nuclear fission", "Splitting atoms to release energy" ], [ "Energy efficiency", "Doing the same work with less energy" ], [ "Cogeneration", "Using waste heat from electricity production" ], [ "Overgrazing", "Livestock eating plants faster than they regrow" ], [ "Monoculture", "Planting one crop over a large area" ], [ "Crop rotation", "Alternating crops to maintain soil" ], [ "No-till farming", "Planting without plowing to protect soil" ], [ "Contour plowing", "Plowing along slopes to reduce runoff" ], [ "Integrated pest management", "Combining methods to control pests with minimal chemicals" ], [ "Aquaculture", "Raising fish or other aquatic organisms" ], [ "Clear-cutting", "Removing all trees from an area" ], [ "Deforestation", "Large-scale removal of forest" ], [ "Urban heat island", "City warmer than surroundings due to pavement and buildings" ], [ "Sprawl", "Low-density development spreading from a city" ], [ "Ecological footprint", "Land and water area needed to support a person or population" ], [ "Point source pollution", "Pollution from a single identifiable source" ], [ "Nonpoint source pollution", "Pollution from many diffuse sources, like runoff" ], [ "Eutrophication", "Nutrient overload causing algae blooms and oxygen loss" ], [ "Dissolved oxygen", "Oxygen in water, essential for aquatic life" ], [ "Biochemical oxygen demand", "Oxygen used by microbes to break down organic waste" ], [ "Bioaccumulation", "Buildup of a substance within an organism over time" ], [ "Biomagnification", "Increasing concentration of a substance up the food chain" ], [ "Smog", "Haze from air pollution, often ozone-rich" ], [ "Acid rain", "Precipitation made acidic by sulfur and nitrogen oxides" ], [ "Particulate matter", "Tiny solid or liquid particles in the air" ], [ "Tropospheric ozone", "Ozone near the ground, a harmful pollutant" ], [ "Stratospheric ozone depletion", "Thinning of the ozone layer by CFCs" ], [ "Montreal Protocol", "Treaty phasing out ozone-depleting chemicals" ], [ "Greenhouse effect", "Atmospheric gases trapping heat" ], [ "Greenhouse gases", "Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor" ], [ "Global warming potential", "A gas's heat trapping relative to carbon dioxide" ], [ "Ocean acidification", "Falling ocean pH as seawater absorbs carbon dioxide" ], [ "Albedo", "Reflectivity of a surface" ], [ "Carbon footprint", "Greenhouse gases produced by an activity or person" ], [ "Carbon sequestration", "Capturing and storing carbon" ], [ "Municipal solid waste", "Everyday trash from homes and businesses" ], [ "Sanitary landfill", "Engineered site where waste is buried and covered" ], [ "Leachate", "Liquid that drains from waste" ], [ "Hazardous waste", "Waste that is toxic, reactive, corrosive or flammable" ], [ "Reduce, reuse, recycle", "Waste management priorities in order" ], [ "Endangered species", "A species in danger of going extinct" ], [ "Endangered Species Act", "US law protecting species at risk" ], [ "CITES", "Treaty regulating trade in endangered species" ], [ "Clean Air Act", "US law setting air quality standards" ], [ "Clean Water Act", "US law regulating water pollution" ], [ "Tragedy of the commons", "Shared resources are overused when everyone acts alone" ], [ "Environmental impact statement", "A report assessing a project's environmental effects" ] ] }