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APES AP Exam Review
APES 145 Ways and Remind Review Flashcards
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Ionizing radiation | enough energy to knock electrons from atoms forming ions, capable of causing cancer (ex gamma-X Rays-UV) |
| High Quality Energy | organized & concentrated, can perform useful work (ex fossil fuel & nuclear) |
| Low Quality Energy | disorganized, dispersed (heat in ocean or air wind, solar) |
| First Law of Thermodynamics | energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be converted from one form to another |
| Second Law of Thermodynamics | when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat) |
| Natural radioactive decay | unstable radioisotopes decay releasing gamma rays, alpha & beta particles |
| Half life | the time it takes for 1/2 the mass of a radioisotope to decay |
| Estimate of how long a radioactive isotope must be stored until it decays to a safe level | approximately 10 half-lives |
| Nuclear Fission | nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons |
| Nuclear Fusion | 2 isotopes of light elements (H) forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus. Expensive, break even point not reached yet |
| Ore | a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral making it profitable to mine |
| Mineral Reserve | identified deposits currently profitable to extract |
| Best solution to Energy shortage | conservation and increase efficiency |
| Surface mining | cheaper & can remove more mineral, less hazardous to workers |
| Humus | organic, dark material remaining after decomposition by microorganisms |
| Leaching | removal of dissolved materials from soil by water moving downwards |
| Illuviation | deposit of leached material in lower soil layers (B) |
| Loam | perfect agricultural soil with equal portions of sand, silt, clay |
| Solutions to soil problems | conservation tillage, crop rotation, contour plowing, organic fertilizers |
| Parts of the hydrologic cycle | evaporation, transpiration, runoff, condensation, precipitation, infiltration |
| Aquifer | any water bearing layer in the ground |
| Cone of depression | lowering of the water table around a pumping well |
| Salt water intrusion | near the coast, over-pumping of groundwater causes saltwater to move into the aquifer |
| ENSO | El Nino Southern Oscillation, see-sawing of air pressure over the S. Pacific |
| During an El Nino year | trade winds weaken & warm water sloshed back to SA During a Non El Nino year: Easterly trade winds and ocean currents pool warm water in the western Pacific, allowing upwelling of nutrient rich water off the West coast of South America |
| Effects of El Nino | upwelling decreases disrupting food chains, N US has mild winters, SW US has increased rainfall, less Atlantic Hurricanes |
| Nitrogen fixing: bacteria | because atmospheric N cannot be used directly by plants it must first be converted into ammonia by |
| Ammonification | decomposers convert organic waste into ammonia |
| Nitrification | ammonia is converted to nitrate ions (NO-3) |
| Assimilation | inorganic N is converted into organic molecules such as DNA/amino acids & proteins |
| Denitrification | bacteria convert ammonia back into N |
| Phosphorus does not circulate as easily as N because | it does not exist as a gas, but is released by weathering of phosphate rocks. Not part of the atsmosphere |
| Because soils contain very little phosphorus | it is a major limiting factor for plant growth |
| Excess phosphorus is added to aquatic ecosystems by | runoff of animal wastes, fertilizer discharge of sewage |
| Photosynthesis | plants convert atmospheric C (CO2) into complex carbohydrates (glucose C6H12O6) |
| Aerobic respiration | oxygen consuming producers, consumers & decomposers break down complex organic compounds & convert C back into CO2 |
| Largest reservoirs of C | carbonate rocks first, oceans second |
| Biotic/abiotic | living & nonliving components of an ecosystem |
| Producer/Autotroph | photosynthetic life |
| Major trophic levels | producers-primary consumer-secondary consumer-tertiary consumer |
| Energy flow in food webs | only 10% of the usable energy is transferred |
| Why is only 10% transferred in a trophic level | usable energy lost as heat (2nd law), not all biomass is digested & absorbed, predators expend energy to catch prey |
| Primary succession | development of communities in a lifeless area not previously inhabited by life (lava) |
| Secondary succession | life progresses where soil remains (clear cut forest) |
| Mutualism | symbiotic relationship where both partners benefit |
| Commensalism | symbiotic relationship where one partner benefits & the other is unaffected |
| Parasitism | relationship in which one partner obtains nutrients at the expense of the host |
| Biome | large distinct terrestrial region having similar climate, soil, plants & animals |
| Carrying capacity | the number of individuals that can be sustained in an area |
| R strategist | reproduce early, many small unprotected offspring |
| K strategist | reproduce late, few, cared for offspring |
| Natural selection | organisms that possess favorable adaptations pass them onto the next generation |
| Malthus | said human population cannot continue to increase, consequences will be war, famine & disease |
| Doubling time | rule of 70 , 70 divided by the percent growth rate |
| Replacement level fertility | the number of children a couple must have to replace themselves (2.1 developed, 2.7 developing) |
| World Population is | over 7.6 billion |
| Preindustrial stage | birth & death rates high, population grows slowly, infant mortality high |
| Transitional stage | death rate lower, better health care, population grows fast |
| Industrial stage | decline in birth rate, population growth slows |
| Post Industrial stage | low birth & death rates |
| Age structure diagrams with a broad base represents | rapid growth |
| 1st & 2nd most populated countries | China & India |
| Most important thing affecting population growth | low status of women |
| Ways to decrease birth rate | family planning, contraception, economic rewards & penalties |
| Percent water on earth by type | 97.5% seawater, 2.5% freshwater |
| Salinization of soil | in arid regions, water evaporates leaving salts behind |
| Ways to conserve water | (agriculture, drip/trickle irrigation) (industry,recycling) (home, use gray water, repair leaks, low flow fixtures) |
| Point vs nonpoint sources | (Point, from specific location such as pipe) (Nonpoint, from over an area such as runoff) |
| BOD | biological oxygen demand, amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic decomposers to break down organic materials |
| Eutrophication | rapid algal growth caused by an excess of N & P |
| Hypoxia | when aquatic plants die, the BOD rises as aerobic decomposers break down the plants, the DO drops & the water cannot support life |
| Minamata Disease | mental impairments caused by mercury poisoning |
| Primary air pollutants are produced by | humans & nature |
| Secondary pollutants | formed by reaction of primary pollutants, such as SO 2, H2SO4 |
| Particulate matter (source,effect,reduction) | (burning fossil fuels & car exhaust) (reduces visibility & respiratory irritation) (filtering, electrostatic precipitators, alternative energy) |
| Nitrogen Oxides | (Source: auto exhaust) (Effects: acidification of lakes, respiratory irritation, leads to smog & ozone) ( Equation for acid formation: NO + O2 = NO2 + H2O = HNO3) (Reduction: catalytic converter) |
| Sulfur oxides | (Source: coal burning) (Effects: acid deposition, respiratory irritation, damages plants) (Equation for acid formation: SO2 + O2 = SO3 + H2O = H2SO4) (Reduction: scrubbers, burn low sulfur fuel) |
| Sources of Carbon oxides | auto exhaust, incomplete combustion |
| Ozone is formed by | secondary pollutant, NO2+UV=NO+O O+O2=O3, with VOC's |
| Industrial smog | found in cities that burn large amounts of coal |
| Photochemical smog | formed by chemical reactions involving sunlight (NO, VOC,O) |
| Acid deposition | caused by sulfuric and nitric acids resulting in lowered pH of surface waters |
| Effects of Greenhouse gases | they trap outgoing infrared (heat) energy causing earth to warm |
| Effects of global warming | rising sea level (thermal expansion), extreme weather, droughts (famine), extinctions |
| Ozone depletion caused by | CFC's, methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, halon, methyl bromide all of which attack stratospheric ozone |
| Effects of ozone depletion | increased UV, skin cancer, cataracts, decreased plant growth |
| Love Canal, NY | chemicals buried in old canal and school & homes built over it causing birth defects & cancer |
| Municipal solid waste is mostly | paper |
| Most municipal waste is | landfilled |
| Sanitary landfill problems and solutions | (leachate, liner with collection system) (methane gas, collect gas and burn) (volume of garbage, compact & reduce) |
| Incineration advantages | volume of waste reduced by 90% & waste heat can be used |
| Incineration disadvantages | toxic emissions (polyvinyl chloride-dioxin), scrubbers & electrostatic precipitates needed, ash disposal |
| Best way to solve waste problem | reduce the amounts of waste at the source |
| Keystone species | species whose role in an ecosystem are more important than others |
| Indicator species | species that serve as early warnings that an ecosystem is being damaged |
| Most endangered species | have a small range, require large territory or live on an island |
| In natural ecosystems, 50-90% of pest species are kept under control by | predators, diseases, parasites |
| Major insecticide groups and examples | (chlorinated hydrocarbons, DDT) (organophosphates, malathion) (carbamates, aldicarb) |
| Pesticide pros | saves lives from insect transmitted disease, increases food supply, increases profits for farmers |
| Pesticide cons | genetic resistance, ecosystem imbalance, pesticide treadmill, persistence, bioaccumulation, biological magnification |
| Natural pest control | better agricultural practices, genetically resistant plants, natural enemies, biopesticides, sex attractants |
| Electricity is generated by | using steam (from water boiled by fossils fuels or nuclear) or falling water to turn a generator |
| Petroleum forms from | microscopic aquatic organisms in sediments converted by heat & pressure into a mixture of hydrocarbons |
| Pros of petroleum | cheap, easily transported, high quality energy |
| Cons of petroleum | reserves depleted soon, pollution during drilling, transport and refining, burning makes CO2 |
| Steps in coal formation | peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite |
| Major parts of a nuclear reactor | core, control rods, steam generator, turbine, containment building |
| Two most serious nuclear accidents | (Chernobyl,Ukraine) (Three Mile Island, PA) |
| Alternate energy sources | wind, solar, waves, biomass, geothermal, fuel cells |
| LD50 | the amount of a chemical that kills 50% of the animals in a test population |
| Mutagen, Teratogen, Carcinogen | causes hereditary changes, Fetus deformities, cancer |
| Multiple use US public land | National Forest & National Resource lands |
| Moderately restricted use land | National Wildlife Refuges |
| Restricted Use lands | National Parks, National Wilderness Preservation System |
| Type I Survivorship Curves | low mortality at birth, survive to old age, and then die (humans, annual plants) |
| Density dependent factors | competition, parasitism, predation |
| Density independent factors | fires, floods, extreme cold |
| Biotic potential | maximum amount of offspring a species can have |
| Effects of Global Warming | bleaching of coral reefs, animals and plants forced out of their current range, melting glaciers, rising sea level, droughts, spread of infectious diseases and more extreme weather conditions. |
| Exotic species | are known as invasive species because they often can grow at an uncontrolled rate because they have no natural predators, disrupt the balance of the ecosystem and have no competition because they kill off many natural inhabitants. |
| Forests | regulate climate, control water runoff, produce oxygen and provide food and shelter for many creatures. |
| Clear cutting | is bad because it increases soil erosion dramatically, increases nitrate runoff into water bodies, makes it hard for an area to recover, leaves animals no place to live and can lead to extinctions. |
| Selective Cutting | harvesting only mature trees of certain species and size. More expensive but less disruptive to wildlife than clear cutting. |
| Utilitarianism | is the belief that something is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people for the longest time. |
| Conservation | is the management of a resource to make certain to produces the greatest benefit to humans in the future. |
| Preservation | is the concept that the land should be kept in its natural state- never touched or developed. |
| NIMBY | public protests cause wastes and other pollutants to be dumped in someone else's backyard. Mostly hurts the poor who cannot pay for representation to fight against potential pollution. Not In My Back Yard |
| Range of Tolerance | minimum and maximum levels of conditions in which organisms can survive. |
| 1.5 billion people | lack access to clean drinking water |
| 75% of water pollution in the US | comes from soil erosion, atmospheric deposition and surface runoff. |
| 95% of water pollution in developing countries | come from raw sewage (high population growth without the money for treatment plants) |
| The US uses _________of all pesticides used in world | 77% |
| The troposphere contains __________ and stratosphere contains _____________ | weather (the layer we exist ) the ozone layer |
| The atmosphere is | 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and a small amount of argon, carbon dioxide, water, salt and dust. |
| Weather | moves from west to east across America |
| Bioaccumulation | is the selective absorption and storage of a great variety of molecules |
| Biomagnification | is a continued increase in the concentration of pollutants in higher levels of a food chain. |
| Acute effects | are caused by a single exposure to a toxin and results in an immediate health crisis of some sort. |
| Chronic effects | are long lasting and can result from a single exposure of a very toxic substance or a continuous exposure to the toxin. |
| Salt water intrusion | is the movement of salt water into freshwater aquifers in coastal areas where groundwater is withdrawn faster than it's replenished |
| Watershed | land surface and groundwater aquifers drained by a particular river system. |
| Land surface | Forests cover 32% 11% is used for crops 26% is range and pasture. |
| 99% of all the species | that ever existed are now extinct but the average rate of extinction was one species per decade. |
| Human have caused | extinction rates of hundreds to thousands of species per YEAR. If these trends continue, 1/3 to 2/3 of all current species will be lost by the year 2050. |
| Volcanoes and Earthquakes occur: | at plate boundaries |
| Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act | requires coal strip mines to reclaim the land |
| Madrid Protocol | Moratorium on mineral exploration for 50 years in Antarctica |
| Safe Drinking Water Act | set maximum contaminant levels for pollutants that may have adverse effects on human health |
| Clean Water Act | set maximum permissible amounts of water pollutants that can be discharged into waterways aim to make surface waters swimmable and fishable |
| Water Quality Act | attempt to reduce non-point source pollution |
| Ocean Dumping Ban Act | bans ocean dumping of sewage sludge and industrial waste |
| National Environmental Policy Act | Environmental Impact Statements must be done before any project affecting federal lands can be started |
| Clean Air Act | Set emission standards for cars and limits for release of air pollutants |
| Kyoto Protocol | controls global warming by setting greenhouse gas emissions targets for developed countries |
| Montreal Protocol | phaseout of ozone depleting substances |
| Resource Conservation & Recovery Act | controls hazardous waste with a cradle to grave system |
| Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act | Superfund, designed to identify and clean up abandoned hazardous waste dump sites |
| Endangered Species Act | identifies threatened and endangered species in the US, and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations |
| Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species | lists species that cannot be commercially traded as live specimens or wildlife products |
| Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act | regulates the effectiveness of pesticides |
| Food Quality Protection Act | set pesticide limits in food and all active and inactive ingredients must be screened for estrogenic/endocrine effects |
| Low Level Radioactive Policy Act | all states must have facilities to handle low level radioactive wastes |
| Nuclear Waste Policy Act | US government must develop a high level nuclear waste site by 2015 |
| Migratory Bird Treaty Act | prohibits shooting non-game migratory birds |
| Wilderness Act | recognizes wilderness areas and strives to preserve them by keeping them road and development free |
| Delaney Clause | prohibits adding cancer causing agents to food |
| Agenda 21 | UN program to make development environmentally and socially sustainable in the 21st century (sustainable development) |
| London Dumping Convention (Law of the Sea) | international agreement banning ocean dumping of plastics, oil and industry waste |
| 3 billion people | lack good sanitation need to prevent communicable diseases from spreading |
| Winds are | named for the direction they come from. Westerlies/Easterlies |
| Type II Survivorship Curve | uniform death rates, subject to predation (insects, birds) |
| Type III Survivorship Curve | high mortality at birth but long lifespans otherwise (turtles, trees) |
| Effects of Carbon Oxides | CO binds to hemoglobin reducing blood's ability to carry O, CO2 contributes to global warming |
| Reduction of Carbon Oxides | catalytic converter, emission testing, oxygenated fuel, mass transit |
| Examples of Greenhouse Gases | H2O, CO2, O3, methane (CH4), CFC's |
| Examples of Primary Air Pollutants | CO,CO2,SO2,NO,hydrocarbons, particulates |
| Effects of Ozone | respiratory irritant, plant damage |
| Ways to Reduce Ozone depletion | reduce NO emissions & VOCs |
| Age structure diagrams with a narrow base represents | negative growth |
| Age structure diagrams with a uniform shape represents | zero growth |
| Divergent Boundaries | spread, such as the mid-ocean ridges in the mid Atlantic between Iceland and the North American Plates |
| Convergent Boundaries | move towards each other, such as trenches, subduction zones, Andes Mountains, Himalayan Mountains |
| Transform Boundaries | slide past one another, such as the San Andreas Fault in California |
| The layers of the atmosphere from the surface up to space | Trophosphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere |
| The three atmospheric convection cells starting at the equator | Hadley (HOT), Ferrell, Polar (COLD) |
| The bulk of the planet's freshwater is found | frozen areas of the planet |
| An aquifer | is an underground layer of porous rock between impermeable rock filled with water |
| 4 major properties of water | Cohesion, Adhesion, Capillarity, Universal Solvent, High Specific heat |
| The types of symbiotic relationships, and how is each species impacted | Mutualism (+,+) Commensalism (+,0) Parasitism (+, -) Competition (-,-) Ammensalism (-,0) |
| A keystone species | a species which serves to keep all other populations in balance in an ecosystem |
| Biodiversity | is the number of species in an area and is a measure of the health of an ecosystem. Greater is better. |
| Roughly what percentage of energy is transferred between trophic levels | 10% |
| This trophic level has to be the largest | producers |
| The primary energy source for terrestrial ecosystems | the Sun |
| The biogeochemical cycle that does not utilize the atmosphere | phosphorus |
| Atmospheric nitrogen is converted to a usable form for plants by | Nitrogen fixing bacteria - Nitrogen fixation & ammonification |
| Water leaving plants through their stoma is called | transpiration |
| R-strategist? Example? | r=rapid reproduction (rabbits, mice) |
| Carrying capacity | the maximum population size based on ecosystem limits |
| Primary and secondary succession | the presence of soil indicates secondary succession no presence of soil indicates primary, such as after a lava flow, abandoned parking lots, concrete roads |
| K-strategist? Example? | slow population growth (humans, elephant) |
| Population in the US | ~330 million |
| Ecological impact = | T-technology X A-affluency X P-population = E- ecological impact |
| The world population graph is a _________ curve over the past 100 years | J curve or exponential growth curve |
| Population of developed countries | ~1.5 billion |
| The four phases of the demographic transition | Preindustrial, Transitional, Industrial, Post Industrial |
| To calculate population doubling time | Rule of 70 (70/%growth rate) |
| GMO refers to | Genetically modified organism |
| Monoculture plantations having low genetic diversity are vulnerable to … | disease, pests |
| Integrated pest management (IPM) | Altering agriculture to avoid greatest detriment from insects |
| Cisgenic | organism with genes from same species |
| Transgenic | organism with genes from different species |
| Federal Land Reserves include | National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, Wilderness Lands |
| World land use= | 32% Forest, 26% Rangeland, 11% cropland |
| The major types of forestry | Clear Cutting, Selective Cutting, Plantation forests |
| Fracking or Hydraulic Fracturing is | using water and solvents under pressure to break shale underground and release natural gas |
| Major surface mining techniques = | Strip mining, contour mining, open pit, mountaintop removal |
| Acid mine drainage | Acidic water exiting from a subsurface mine, very detrimental to aquatic ecosystems |
| Commercial overfishing of the world's oceans is an example of what ecological concept | Tragedy of the commons |
| The major types of commercial fishing | long line, fish farming, purse seine, trawl line, dredging |
| All major fisheries on the planet are in | decline |
| Know the prefixes and scientific notations for each. Kilo, Mega, Giga also Centi, Milli, Micro | Kilo - 10^3 Mega 10^6 Giga 10^9 3. |
| We can increase the output of every system by | increasing the efficiency of the process |
| The US generates the bulk of its power from … | natural gas |
| Why do the fossil fuels have a high net energy? | Ease of extraction |
| What is the primary fuel for Nuclear power? | Uranium 235 |
| Tar Sands are full of bitumen, where are the bulk of the tar sands and what is bitumen? | Tar sands are predominantly found in Alberta, Canada. Bitumen is dense oil which must be refined for use. |
| The US currently obtains the greatest amount of renewable energy from this source. | Hydroelectric Power |
| Photovoltaic cells utilize what mineral to capture solar energy? | Silicon |
| Compared to non-renewable energy, what are three benefits of renewable energy? | Minimal (if any) CO2 emissions; No NOX, SO2, PM; endless supply; Wide region of application |
| What are 3 major outdoor air pollutants? | Nox, SO2, PM10 & PM2.5, VOCs |
| Primary pollutants are ___________emitted | directly |
| What are 3 indoor air pollutants | Cigarette Smoke, Asbestos, Radon, Formaldehyde, Mold |
| Secondary pollutants are | primary pollutants that have reacted in air |
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