APES Princeton Review Chap 4
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ginaisawesome on April 15, 2012
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81 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 ammonification | process in the nitrogen cycle where soil bacteria convert organic nitrogen to ammonia; 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 | an organism that makes its own food |
| bioaccumulation | buildup of a persistent toxic substance, such as certain pesticides, in an organism's body |
| biomagnification | 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 in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life |
| carnivore | an animal that only consumes other animals |
| chemotroph | an organism, such as a bacterium or protozoan, that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds |
| 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 |
| decomposer | bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material, the wastes of living organisms, and corpses |
| denitrification | final step in the nitrogen cycle during which nitrogen gas is returned to the atmosphere; specialized bacteria convert nitrate back into ammonia and nitrate back into nitrogen gas |
| detritivore | organism that feeds on animal and plant remains that it did not capture; scavenger |
| ecological succession | series of changes in the species in a community, often following a disturbance |
| 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 | a triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem's loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the ecosystem's food chain |
| 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 | disappearance of a species from all parts of its geographical range |
| food chain | A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy. |
| 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 | rate at which an ecosystem's producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as biomass in a given length of time; Total energy plant stores |
| 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 | organism that cannot make its own food |
| indigenous species | species that originate and live, or occur naturally, in an area or environment |
| invasive species | nonnative species that enter new ecosystems and multiply, harming native species and their habitats |
| keystone species | species that is critical to the functioning of the ecosystem in which it lives because it affects the survival and abundance of many other species in its community |
| 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 | process by which individuals that are better suited to their environment survive and reproduce most successfully; also called survival of the fittest |
| Net Primary Productivity | The gross primary productivity minus the energy used by the producers for cellular respiration; represents the storage of chemical energy in an ecosystem available to pass on to consumers. |
| niche | role a species has in its environment; includes all biotic and abiotic interactions as an animal meets its needs for survival and reproduction |
| nitrification | the process in the nitrogen cycle when soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate, or NO3. |
| nitrogen fixation | because atmospheric N cannot be used directly by plants, it must first be converted into ammonia by bacteria. |
| omnivores | organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers |
| parasitism | relationship in which a parasitic organism obtains its food at the expense of a host organism |
| photosynthesis | process by which plants use the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars |
| pioneer species | organisms that are the first to grow in new or disturbed areas (first step of primary 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 |
| 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 | portion of a fundamental niche that is actually filled or realized due to competition or other species interactions. |
| reservoir | place where water is collected and stored |
| respiration | process in which oxygen and glucose undergo a complex series of chemical reactions inside cells; also called cellular respiration. |
| residency time | amount of time a nutrient spends in a reservoir or an exchange pool |
| seocondary consumers | organisms that consume primary consumers |
| species | organisms that are capable of interbreeding 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 | The top carnivores in an ecosystem; organisms that feed on secondary or tertiary consumers |
| transpiration | process by which plants that release water into the atmosphere from small pores on their leaves known as stomata |
| trophic level | Each step in a food chain or food web. |
| exchange pool | site where a nutrient sits for only a short period of time |
| precipitation | the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist) |
| ground water | underground water that is held in the soil and in pervious rocks |
| phosphorus cycle | Begins with leaching of phosphorus compounds into the soil; Plants absorb through roots; herbivores obtain Phosphorus by eating the plants, and the carnivores by eating the herbivores. Phosphorus is excreted as feces and urine from animals and returns in decomposition of animals; unlike the carbon and nitrogen cycles, it doesn't have an atmospheric component |
| sulfur cycle | cyclic movement of sulfur in various chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to the environment. Most of the earth's sulfur is stored underground in rocks and mineral and buried deep under ocean sediments. in ground -> to atmosphere -> acid rain/snow -> in water/plants -> decomposed -> in soil |
| biomes | large regions such as forests, deserts, and grasslands, with distinct climates and certain species (especially vegetation) adapted to them. |
| aquatic life zones | aquatic equivalent of biomes; marine and freshwater portions of the biosphere that can be divided into multiple ecosystems |
| ecotone | transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another, such as the transition from a forest to a grassland |
| ecozone | An area that has the same type of plants, climate, animals, human activities, landforms etc. |
| deciduous trees | trees that shed their leaves and grow new ones each year |
| coniferous trees | trees that produce their seeds in cones and have leaves shaped like needles |
| microevolution | change in a population's gene pool over successive generations; evolutionary changes in species over comparably brief periods of time |
| macroevolution | large-scale evolutionary changes that take place over long periods of time |
| intraspecific competition | in a community competition for resources among members of the same species |
| interspecific competition | in a community competition for resources between members of different species |
| fundamental niche | full range of conditions that a species can tolerate and resources it can use |
| commensalism | A relationship between two species in which one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed |
| gene pool | combined genetic information of all the members of a particular population |
| genetic drift | change in the gene pool of a population due to chance |
| evolutionary fitness | a measurement of the degree to which an organism can successfully adapt to its environment and can reproduce fertile offspring |
| indicator species | Species that serve as early warnings that a community or ecosystem is being degraded. |
| secondary succession | succession following a disturbance that destroys a community without destroying the soil |
| island biography theory | The farther away and smaller the island is, the fewer the species |
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