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AP Environmental Science > Unit 2: The Living World - Biodiversity > Flashcards

Unit 2: The Living World - Biodiversity Flashcards

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1
Q

Ecosystem services

A

The process by which life-supporting resources, such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced

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2
Q

Environmental indicators

A

An indicator that describes the current state of an environmental system

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3
Q

Five global-scale environmental indicators

A

○ Biodiversity
○ Food production
○ Average global surface temperature and carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere
○ Human population
○ Resource depletion

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4
Q

Biodiversity

A

The diversity of life forms in an environment

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5
Q

3 scales of biodiversity

A
  • Ecosystem
  • Species
  • Genetic
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6
Q

Genetic diversity

A
  • A measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population
    ○ Populations with a high genetic diversity are better suited to respond to environmental change
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7
Q

Species diversity

A
  • The number of species in a region or in a particular ecosystem
    ○ Higher species diversity causes more resilience to environmental changes and are more productive
    ○ Critical environmental indicator
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8
Q

Speciation

A

The evolution of a new species

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9
Q

Background extinction rate

A

The average rate at which species become extinct over the long term

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10
Q

Ecosystem diversity

A
  • A measure of the diversity of ecosystems that exist in a given region
    ○ A greater number of healthy and productive ecosystems results in a healthier environment overall
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11
Q

Species’ richness

A
  • The number of species in a given area
    ○ Used to measure biodiversity in a given area
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12
Q

Species’ evenness

A
  • The relative proportion of individuals within the different species in a given area
    ○ Tells us whether a particular ecosystem is numerically dominated by one species or whether all of its species have similar abundances
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13
Q

Phylogeny

A
  • The branching pattern of evolutionary relationships
    ○ Can be described with a diagram
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14
Q

Microevolution

A

Evolution below the species level

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15
Q

Macroevolution

A

Evolution that gives rise to new species, genera, families, classes, or phyla

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16
Q

Mutation

A
  • A random change in the genetic code produced by a mistake in the copying process
    ○ Mutations can affect an organism’s survival and make their chances better or worse
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17
Q

Recombination

A
  • The genetic process by which one chromosome breaks off and attaches to another chromosome during reproductive cell division
    ○ Does not create new genes but brings together new combination of alleles on a chromosome and therefore can produce novel traits
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18
Q

Artificial selection

A

The process in which humans determine which individuals breed, typically with a preconceived set of traits in mind

19
Q

Natural selection

A

The process by which the environment determines which individuals survive and reproduce

20
Q

Gene flow

A
  • The process by which individuals move from one population to another and thereby alter the genetic composition of both populations
    ○ Alters the frequency of alleles in populations
    ○ Can bring in genetic diversity to a population that lacks it
21
Q

Genetic drift

A

A change in the genetic composition of a population over time as a result of random mating

22
Q

Bottleneck effect

A
  • A reduction in the genetic diversity of a population caused by reduction in its size
    ○ When a population is reduced, its genetic diversity reduces as well
    ○ Can causes individuals to be less equipped to face environmental problems, disease, or low fertility
23
Q

Founder effect

A

A change in the genetic composition of a population as a result of descending from a small number of colonizing individuals

24
Q

Intinsic values

A

Values independent of any benefit to humans

25
Q

Instrumental value

A

Worth as an instrument or a tool that can be used to accomplish a goal

26
Q

Provisions

A

A good that humans can use directly to support life

27
Q

Regulating services

A

Natural ecosystems help to regulate environmental conditions

28
Q

Support systems

A
  • Natural ecosystems provide several support systems that would be very costly for humans to generate
    ○ Ex: The pollination of food crops and natural pest control services
29
Q

Resilience

A
  • Ensures an ecosystem will continue to exist in its current state
    ○ Depends greatly on species diversity
30
Q

Cultural services

A

Ecosystems provide beauty that many people are willing pay for

31
Q

Theory of island biogeography

A
  • A theory that demonstrates the dual importance of habitat size and distance in determining species richness
    ○ Depends on habitat size and distance from mainland
32
Q

Range of tolerance

A

The limits to the abiotic conditions that a species can tolerate

33
Q

Fundamental niche

A

The suite of abiotic conditions under which a species can survive, grow, and reproduce

34
Q

Realized niche

A

The range of biotic and abiotic conditions under which a species actually lives

35
Q

Distribution

A
  • Areas of the world in which a species lives
    ○ Realized niche helps us understand the distribution of a species
36
Q

Niche generalist

A
  • A species that can live under a wide range of abiotic or biotic conditions
    ○ Fare better under changing conditions
37
Q

Niche specialist

A
  • A species that is specialized to live in a specific habitat or to feed on a small group of species
    ○ More vulnerable to extinction from habitat changes
38
Q

Mass extinction

A
  • A large extinction of a species in a relatively short amount of time
    ○ 5 mass extinctions have occurred over Earth’s history
39
Q

6th mass extinction

A

During the last 2 decades, scientists have stated that we are currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction of a magnitude within the range of the previous 5 mass extinctions due to human activities

40
Q

Geographic isolation

A

Physical separation of a group of individuals from others of the same species

41
Q

Allopatric speciation

A

The process of speciation that occurs with geographic isolation

42
Q

Reproductive isolation

A

The result of two populations within a species evolving separately to the point that they can no longer interbreed and produce viable offspring

43
Q

Sympatric speciation

A

The evolution of one species into two, without geographic isolation

44
Q

Polyploidy

A

The heritable condition of possessing more than two complete sets of chromosomes

AP Environmental Science (5 decks)

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