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AP Environmental Science > Unit III Vocab > Flashcards

Unit III Vocab Flashcards

1
Q
  • The abundance of wealth and goods or the consumption of high volumes of goods, particularly those taken from the natural environment.
A

Affluence

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2
Q
  • Shows the distribution of age and sex in a population.
  • The y-axis of the diagram shows age groups from birth to old age. The x-axis shows the population percentage.
A

Age Structure Diagram

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3
Q
  • The rate at which a species reproduces with unlimited conditions.
  • This means that the species is living in ideal conditions with no limit to the number of food resources, no predators present, and no threat of disease.
A

Biotic Population

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4
Q

The maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available.

A

Carrying Capacity

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5
Q
  • The number of births per 1,000 individuals per year.
  • The crude death rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year.
  • We do not factor in migration for the global population because we aren’t leaving the Earth.
A

CBR

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6
Q
  • The crude death rate refers to the number of deaths per 1,000 individuals in a population within a specific time period.
A

CDR

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7
Q
  • A behavior in an organism, usually sessile, in which individuals of a particular species group close to one another for beneficial purposes.
  • Can be caused by the abiotic environment surrounding an organism.
A

Clumping

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8
Q

– These studies are a type of research design. They are also called longitudinal studies because they follow groups of people over time.
- Results from these studies can help people understand human health and the environmental and social factors that influence it.
- This word means a group of people.

A

Cohort

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9
Q
  • A group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time.
A

Community

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10
Q
  • Connections across the landscape that link up areas of habitat.
  • They support natural processes that occur in a healthy environment, including the movement of species to find resources, such as food and water.
A

Corridor

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11
Q
  • A theory model that countries tend to shift from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as they become wealthier and more industrialized.
A

Demographic Transition Model

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12
Q
  • The study of the characteristics of populations.
  • It provides a mathematical description of how those characteristics change over time.
A

Demography

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13
Q
  • Factors that affect the per capita growth rate of a population differently depending on how dense the population already is.
A

Density-Dependent Factors

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14
Q
  • In ecology, any force that affects the size of a population of living things regardless of the density of the population (the number of individuals per unit area).
A

Density-Independent Factors

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15
Q
  • Countries that have higher average incomes, slower population growth, diverse industrial economies, and stronger social support systems; has a higher consumption of natural resources.
A

Developed Countries

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16
Q
  • Nations characterized by a low standard of living, poor infrastructure, and a lack of industrialization.
  • Third World countries, or non-industrialized countries.
A

Developing Countries

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17
Q
  • The gradual deterioration of health in trees, sometimes leading to tree death.
  • Usually caused by a combination of factors, such as disease and pathogens, insect attack and/or stressful climate conditions.
A

Dieback

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18
Q
  • Common term used when studying population growth.
  • It is the projected amount of time that it will take for a given population to double.
    • It is based on the annual growth rate and is calculated by what is known as “The Rule of 70.”
A

Doubling Time

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19
Q
  • A population’s per capita (per individual) growth rate stays the same regardless of population size, making the population grow faster and faster as it gets larger. – In nature, populations may grow exponentially for some period, but they will ultimately be limited by resource availability.
A

Exponential Growth

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20
Q
  • The effort to plan the number and spacing of one’s children, so as to offer children and parents the best quality of life possible.
A

Family Planning

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21
Q
  • An organism’s reproductive capacity (the number of offspring it’s capable of producing).
  • The higher the ________ of an organism, the less energy it’s likely to invest in each offspring, both in terms of direct resources – such as fuel reserves placed in an egg or seed – and in terms of parental care.
A

Fecundity

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22
Q
  • Able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet).
A

Generalist Species

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23
Q
  • Is the total market value of all final goods and services produced during a given time period within a nation’s domestic borders. - Is an important and common measurement for the health of an economy.
A

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

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24
Q
  • To movement of an organism to an area.
  • For example, a bird may move to a new island from another island.
A

Immigration

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25
Q
  • The leaving of a place of residence or habitat with the intent of living in another place.
A

Emigration

26
Q
  • The decrease in fitness with increased genome-wide homozygosity that occurs in the offspring of related parents.
A

Inbreeding Depression

27
Q
  • The process of transforming the economy of a nation or region from a focus on agriculture to a reliance on manufacturing. - Mechanized methods of mass production are an essential component of this transition.
A

Industrialization

28
Q
  • The probability of a child born in a specific year or period dying before reaching the age of one, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of that period.
A

Infant/Child Mortality

29
Q
  • The population growth rate of a species when it is growing by itself at low density, unaffected by intraspecific negative density dependence or interspecific competition.
A

Intrinsic Growth Rate (r)

30
Q
  • Curve that graphically represents a situation in a new environment where the population density of an organism increases at an exponential rate.
A

J-Shaped Curve

31
Q
  • Produce offspring that each have a higher probability of survival to maturity.
  • Although not always the case, more common in larger animals, like whales or elephants, with longer lifespans and overlapping generations.
  • The young tend to be altricial (immature, requiring extensive care).
A

K-Selected

32
Q
  • Can be defined as a statistical measure of the average years that a person or a cohort of individuals can expect to live under normal conditions.
  • It is not a predictive tool, rather it is an assessor of the average quality of life.
A

Life Expectancy

33
Q
  • Environmental features that limit the growth, abundance, or distribution of an organism or a population of organisms in an ecosystem.
A

Limiting Resource

34
Q
  • Population expansion decreases as resources become scarce, leveling off when the carrying capacity of the environment is reached, resulting in an S-shaped curve.
A

Logistic Growth Model

35
Q
  • The idea that human population growth is the primary driver of environmental harms and population control a prerequisite to environmental protection.
A

Malthus

36
Q
  • If population grows much faster than food production, the growth is checked in the end by famine, disease, and war.
A

Malthusian Theory

37
Q
  • The patchiness of populations in space, and the role of this patchiness in population dynamics, population stability, coexistence of species, and the maintenance of diversity.
  • Strict ones focus on colonization and extinction of local populations.
A

Metapopulation

38
Q
  • The number of deaths, particularly on a large scale in a population or geographical region being studied.
A

Mortality

39
Q
  • The difference between the number of immigrants (people coming into an area) and the number of emigrants (people leaving an area) divided by the population.
A

Net Migration Rate

40
Q
  • Occurs when human demand exceeds the regenerative capacity of a natural ecosystem.
  • Global occurs when humanity demands more than what the biosphere can renew.
  • In other words, humanity’s Ecological Footprint exceeds what the planet can regenerate.
A

Overshoot

41
Q
  • Any behavior that contributes to offspring survival, such as building a nest, provisioning offspring with food, or defending offspring from predators.
A

Parental Care

42
Q
  • The concentration of individuals within a species in a specific geographic locale.
  • Data can be used to quantify demographic information and to assess relationships among ecosystems, human health and infrastructure.
A

Population Density

43
Q
  • Describes how the individuals of a population spread out across their habitat.
  • Spatial patterns of population distribution may be clumped, uniform, or random.
  • A clumped distribution shows a high population density in one area of the habitat.
A

Population Distribution

44
Q
  • Illustrates how a population may increase exponentially until it reaches the carrying capacity of its environment.
  • When a population’s number reaches the carrying capacity, population growth slows down or stops altogether.
A

Population Growth Model

45
Q
  • The average change in a population over time is referred to as the population growth rate.
  • A positive growth rate indicates a population increase, and a negative growth rate indicates a population decrease.
A

Population Growth Rate

46
Q
  • Occurs when a country’s fertility rate declines to or below replacement level (2.1 children per woman), yet the population size continues to grow due to the age structure of the population.
A

Population Momentum

47
Q
  • A graph that shows the distribution of ages across a population divided down the center between male and female members of the population.
  • The graphic starts from youngest at the bottom to oldest at the top.
A

Population Pyramid

48
Q
  • The total number of individuals of a particular species in a given area at a specific time.
  • It is an important factor in understanding the dynamics and interactions within ecosystems.
A

Population Size (N)

49
Q
  • A society that has undergone significant changes in its economic sector, particularly the decline of manufacturing industry and the emergence of new forms of employment.
  • It is characterized by a shift in the organization and functioning of everyday life.
A

Post-Industrialization

50
Q
  • Any period of time before the start of the industrial revolution.
  • But the number of direct temperature measurements decreases as we go back in time.
A

Pre-Industrialization

51
Q
  • Definition describes them as organisms that exhibit high reproductive rates followed by high mortality rates that lead to populations with highly fluctuating numbers.
A

R-Selected

52
Q
  • Are distributed randomly, without a predictable pattern.
  • An example of random dispersion comes from dandelions and other plants that have wind-dispersed seeds.
A

Random Dispersion

53
Q
  • The level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.
A

Replacement Level

54
Q
  • The extent to which natural resources are accessible and sufficient to meet the needs of a population.
A

Resource Availability

55
Q
  • A rule that can be used to determine how long it will take for a given population to double given its growth rate.
  • States that if a population has a r% annual growth rate, then the number of years it will take for the population to double can be found by dividing 70 by r.
A

Rule of 70

56
Q
  • Represents logistic growth.
  • The lower curve of the S is formed as a small population grows exponentially.
  • The upper curve of the S is formed as the population nears its carrying capacity and its growth rate slows.
A

S-Shaped Curve

57
Q
  • The ratio of males to females in a population.
  • As explained by Fisher’s principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually.
  • However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, either periodically or permanently.
A

Sex Ratio

58
Q
  • Can thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions or has a limited diet.
  • Most organisms do not all fit neatly into either group, however.
A

Specialist

59
Q
  • Graphs that show the proportion of a population that survives from one age to the next.
  • These curves represent age-specific mortality in a group of organisms.
  • To generate, ecologists typically collect age-specific survival rates for organisms within a cohort.
A

Survivorship Curve

60
Q
  • The complex phenomenon of reduced fertility levels and the erosion of correlations between resources and fertility in populations undergoing significant societal changes.
A

Theory of Demographic Transition

61
Q
  • The average number of children born to a woman in her reproductive age.
  • This undoubtedly influences a community and their age structure/total population.
A

Total Fertility Rate

62
Q
  • Individuals of a population are spaced more or less evenly.
  • One example comes from plants that secrete toxins to inhibit growth of nearby individuals—a phenomenon called allelopathy.
A

Uniform Dispersion

AP Environmental Science (4 decks)

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