APES Crash Course Key Terms
About this set
Created by:
keepinitgreen365 on April 20, 2012
Subjects:
Description:
I. Earth Systems and Resources
II. The Living World
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43 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 hydrosphere | collective name for all of the water on Earth |
| biosphere | collective term encompassing all life on Earth; spans across lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere |
| biomass | organic material made from living things (ex. wood, peat, organic matter in soils); may be burned as a source of energy |
| aesthenosphere | fluid-like layer bellow lithosphere that allows lithosphere plates to move on top |
| subduction zones, deep trenches (Mariana Trench in Pacific), Himalaya Mountain Range | convergent boundary examples (3) |
| mountain ranges (Mid-Atlantic Ridge), rift valleys (African Rift Valley) | divergent boundary examples (2) |
| biotic | anything that is or was living |
| biotic factor | anything that results from interactions with living things (ex. parasitism, competition) |
| abiotic | anything that is nonliving, or is not a direct product of a living thing |
| aboitic factor | any nonliving thing that affects life, such as the weather or climate, including temperature, rainfall, and sunlight; also soil texture and moisture, atmospheric pressure, the presence of chemicals and compounds |
| ecosystem | the interation of all the living organisms in an area with their nonliving environment (terrestrial and aquatic) |
| species | a group of organisms that share similar physiucal and behavioral traits and that can intebreed to produce fertile offspring |
| keystone species | one or more species that are essential to the maintenence of the ecosystem; if removed from the ecosystem, system at risk of collapsing |
| sea otters, coyotes (predators), African elephants (weeding), environmental engineers (manipulation) | 4 keystone species and reasons? |
| foundational species | the autotrophs found in large numbers at the base of an ecosystem's food web |
| indicator species | species especially sensitive to changes in the environment |
| frogs, spotted salamanders (water pollution), mayflies (high water quality, pollutants) | 3 indicator species and what they indicate? |
| habitat | where an organism lives |
| niche | an organism's role within the ecosystem |
| habitat (coral reef), niche (predatory fish) | habitat and niche of a shark? |
| community | the assemblage of all organisms living and interacting in a particular area |
| protists | single-celled or simple multicellular eukaryotic organisms that generally do not fit in any other kingdom |
| producers, autotrophs | first trophic level? |
| primary consumers, herbivores | second trophic level? |
| secondary and tertiary consumers | third trophic level? |
| 4-5 | average number of trophic levels in an ecosystem? |
| biome | a large region of the Earth characterized by a distinc set of climate conditions (temperature, precipitation) |
| forest | biome characterized by the growth of mature trees and a closed canopy; rainfall must be high enough tosupport growth of large trees; tend to have HIGHEST precipitation; seasonal temperature range |
| tropical forest | forests that are evergreen and are warm year-round with a large amt. of rainfall |
| temperete forest | forests that are usually deciduous with 4 equal seasons, a wide range of temperatures, and seasonal rainfall |
| boreal forest (taiga) | forests that are evergreen with short growing seasons, long winters, and moderate to high precipitation (rain, snow, dew) |
| grassland | biome characterized by a lack of trees and an abundant growth of grasses and other herbaceous (nonwoody) plants; low rainfall |
| tropical grassland | grassland like the African savannah that tend to be warm year-round, with a growing season largely determined by droughts |
| temperate grassland | grassland like the prairies of the central US and steppes of Russia, with cold winters and short growing seasons; rich soil |
| desert | driest biome, with so little rainfall that diversity of life tends to be low |
| hot desert | desert with extremely high temperatures and sandy soil |
| cold desert | desert that includes the Polar desert, with extremely low temperatures and precipitation; permafrost or ice cover for most of the year |
| wetland | an are in which the soils are flooded with water during part of its natural cycle |
| swamps, marshes, bogs, fens | wetland examples? (4) |
| fen | low-lying wet land with grassy vegetation |
| estuary | an area where saltwater mixes with fresh water (brackish water), often found near mouth of river; HIGH biodiversity |
| reservoir | a zone of storage or containment |
| calcium carbonate in limestone deposits, fossil fuel | 2 carbon reservoirs? |
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