AP Environmental: Unit 1-3 Vocab Flashcards
K-selected species
Species that produce a few, often fairly large offspring but invest a great deal of time and energy to ensure that most of those offspring reach reproductive age.
r-selected species
Species that reproduce early in their life span and produce large numbers of usually small and short-lived offspring in a short period.
density dependent factors
limiting factor that depends on population size
density independent factors
limiting factors that are independent of the size of a population and act to regulate its growth
biotic potential
The maximum rate at which a population could increase under ideal conditions.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years.
Malthusian Theory
Starvation is the inevitable result of population growth, because the population increases at a geometric rate while food supply can only increase arithmetically.
Rule of 70
A method for determining the number of years it will take for some measure to double, given its annual percentage increase.
Example: To determine the number of years it will take for the price level to double, divide 70 by the annual rate of inflation.
Demographic Transition Model
A sequence of demographic changes in which a country moves from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates through time.
standard of living
the degree of wealth and material comfort available to a person or community
island biogeography
The study of rates of colonization and extinction of species on islands or other isolated areas based on size, shape, and distance from other inhabited regions.
ecological tolerance
the range of conditions in which a species can survive
ecosystem diversity
the variety of ecosystems within a given region
species diversity
the number and relative abundance of species in a biological community
genetic diversity
the range of genetic material present in a gene pool or population of a species
regulating services
the service provided by natural systems that helps regulate environmental conditions
supporting services
basic ecosystem processes (nutrient cycles, soil formation, pollination)
cultural services
ecosystems provide cultural or aesthetic benefits to many people
bottleneck effect
Genetic drift resulting from the reduction of a population, typically by a natural disaster, such that the surviving population is no longer genetically representative of the original population.
provisional services
ecosystem functions that directly supply humans with goods
Examples: lumber and fish
morpological partitioning
using different resources based on different evolved body features
resource partitioning
the differentiation of niches that enable similar species to coexist in a community
temporal partitioning
two species reduce competition by utilizing a resource of different times
spatial partitioning
occurs when two competing species use the same resource by occupying different areas
benthic
bottom of an aquatic ecosystem, consists of sand and sediment and supports its own community of organisms
eutrophication
excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen
primary productivity
rate at which organic matter is created by producers in an ecosystem
trophic cascade
a series of changes in the population sizes of organisms at different trophic levels in a food chain
respiration loss
plants use up some of the energy they generate via photosynthesis by doing cell respiration (movement, internal transportation, etc.)
ecological efficiency
the proportion of consumed energy that can be passed from one trophic level to another
