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AP Biology > Vocabulary > Flashcards

Vocabulary Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
0
Q

Biosphere

A

Zone of air, land and water at the surface of the earth in which living organisms are found.

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1
Q

Age Structure Diagram

A

In demographics, a display of the age groups of a population; A growing population has a pyramid-shaped diagram.

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2
Q

Biotic Potential

A

Maximum population growth rate under ideal conditions.

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3
Q

Carrying Capacity (K)

A

Largest Number of Organisms of a particular species that can be maintained indefinitely by a given environment.

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4
Q

Cohort

A

Group of individuals having a satisfied factor in common, such as a year of birth, in a population of study

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5
Q

Community

A

Assemblage of species interacting with one another within the same environment.

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6
Q

Competition

A

Results when members of a species attempt to use a resource that is in limited supply.

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7
Q

Demographic transition

A

Due to industrialization, a decline in the birthrate following a reduction in the death rate so that the population growth rate is lowered.

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8
Q

Demography

A

Properties of the rate of growth and the age structure of populations

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9
Q

Density-dependent Factor

A

Biotic factor, such as disease or competition, that affects population size in a direct relationship to the population’s density.

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10
Q

Density-independent Factor

A

Abiotic factor, such as fire or flood, that affects population size independent of the population’s density

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11
Q

Doubling Time

A

Number of years it takes for a population to double in size.

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12
Q

Ecology

A

Study of the interactions of organisms with other organisms and with the physical and chemical environment.

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13
Q

Ecosystem

A

Biological community together with the associated abiotic environment; characterized by a flow of energy and a cycling of inorganic nutrients.

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14
Q

Exponential growth

A

Growth particularly, of a population, in which the increase occurs in the same manner as compound interest.

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15
Q

Habitat

A

Place where an organism lives and is able to survive and reproduce.

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16
Q

Heroparity

A

Repeated production of offspring at intervals throughout the lifecycle of an organism.

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17
Q

K-selection

A

Favorable life-history strategy under stable environmental conditions characterized by the production of a few offspring with much attention given to offspring survival.

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18
Q

Less-developed country (LDC)

A

Country that is becoming industrialized; typically population growth is expanding rapidly, and the majority of people live in poverty.

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19
Q

Limiting factor

A

Resource or environmental condition that restricts the abundance and distribution of an organism.

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20
Q

Logistic growth

A

Population increase that results in an S-shaped curve; growth is slow at first, steepens and then levels off due to environmental resistance.

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21
Q

More-developed country (MDC)

A

Country that is industrialized; typically, population growth is low, and the people enjoy a good standard of living overall.

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22
Q

Population

A

Group of organisms of the same species occupying a certain area and sharing common gene pool.

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23
Q

Rate of Natural Increase (r)

A

Growth rate dependent on the number of individuals that are born each year and the number of individuals that die each year.

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24
Q

Replacement Reproduction

A

Population in which each person is replaced by only one child.

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25
Q

Resource

A

Abiotic and biotic components of an environment that support or are needed by living organisms.

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26
Q

r-selection

A

Favorable life history strategy under certain environmental conditions; characterized by a higher reproductive rate with little or no attention given to offspring survival.

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27
Q

Semelparity

A

Condition of having a single reproductive effort in a lifetime.

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28
Q

Survivorship

A

Probability of newborn individuals of a cohort surviving to particular ages.

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29
Q

Zero Population Growth

A

No growth in population size.

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30
Q

Acid Deposition

A

The return to earth in rain or snow of sulfate or nitrate salts of acids produced by commercial and industrial activities.

31
Q

Autotroph

A

Organism that can capture energy and synthesize organic molecules from inorganic nutrients.

32
Q

Biogeochemical cycle

A

Circulating pathway of elements such as carbon and nitrogen involving exchange pools, storage areas, and biotic communities.

33
Q

Biomass

A

The number of organisms multiplied by their weight.

34
Q

Camouflage

A

Process of hiding from predators in which an organism’s behavior, form, and pattern of coloration allow it to blend into the background and prevent detection.

35
Q

Carnivore

A

Consumer in a food chain that eats other animals.

36
Q

Character displacement

A

Tendency for characteristics to be more divergent when similar species belong to the same community than when they are isolated from one another.

37
Q

Climate change

A

Recent changes in the earth’s climate; evidence suggests that this is primarily due to human influence, including the increased release of greenhouse gases.

38
Q

Climax community

A

In ecology, the community that results when succession has come to an end.

39
Q

Coevolution

A

Mutual evolution in which two species exert selective pressures on the other species.

40
Q

Commensalism

A

Symbiotic relationship in which one species is benefited and the other is neither harmed nor benefited.

41
Q

Competitive Exclusion Principle

A

Theory that no two species can occupy the same niche in the same place and at the same time.

42
Q

Consumer

A

Organism that feeds on another organism in a food chain generally; primary consumers eat plants, and secondary consumers eat animals

43
Q

Decomposer

A

Organism, usually a bacteria or fungus, that breaks down organic matter into inorganic nutrients that can be recycled in the environment.

44
Q

Denitrification

A

Conversion of nitrate or nitrite to nitrogen gas by bacteria in soil.

45
Q

Detritivore

A

Any organism that obtains most of its nutrients from the detritus in an ecosystem.

46
Q

Ecological Pyramid

A

Visual depiction of the biomass, number of organisms, or energy content of various trophic levels in a food web–from the producer to the final consumer populations.

47
Q

Ecological succession

A

The gradual replacement of communities in an area following a disturbance (secondary succession) or the creation of new soil (primary succession).

48
Q

Eutrophication

A

Enrichment of water by inorganic nutrients used by phytoplankton. Often, overenrichment caused by human activities leads to excessive bacterial growth and oxygen depletion.

49
Q

Food chain

A

The order in which one population feeds on another in an ecosystem, thereby showing the flow of energy from a detritivore (detrital food chain) or a producer (grazing food chain) to the final consumer.

50
Q

Food web

A

In ecosystems, a complex pattern of interlocking and crisscrossing food chains.

51
Q

Global warming

A

Predicted increase in the earth’s temperature due to human activities that promote the greenhouse effect.

52
Q

Greenhouse effect

A

Reradiation of solar heat toward the earth, caused by an atmosphere that allows the sun’s rays to pass through but traps the heat in the same manner as the glass of a greenhouse.

53
Q

Greenhouse gas

A

Gases in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, ozone, and nitrous oxide that are involved in the greenhouse effect.

54
Q

Herbivore

A

Primary consumer in a grazing food chain; a plant eater.

55
Q

Heterotroph

A

Organism that cannot synthesize needed organic compounds from inorganic substances and therefore must take in organic food.

56
Q

Host

A

Organism that provides nourishment and/or shelter for a parasite.

57
Q

Island biogeography model

A

Proposes that the biodiversity on an island is dependent on its distance from the mainland, with islands located a greater distance having a lower level of diversity.

58
Q

Mimicry

A

Superficial resemblance of two or more species; a survival mechanism that avoids predation by appearing to be noxious.

59
Q

Mutualism

A

Symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit in terms of growth and reproduction.

60
Q

Nitrogen (N2) Fixation

A

Process whereby free atmospheric nitrogen is converted into compounds, such as ammonium and nitrates, usually by bacteria.

61
Q

Nitrification

A

Process by which nitrogen in ammonia and organic compounds is oxidized to nitrites and nitrates by soil bacteria.

62
Q

Omnivore

A

Organism in a food chain that feeds on both plants and animals.

63
Q

Parasite

A

Species that is dependent on a host species for survival, usually to the detriment of the host species.

64
Q

Parasitism

A

Symbiotic relationship in which one species (the parasite) benefits in terms of growth and reproduction to the detriment of the other species (the host).

65
Q

Pioneer species

A

Early colonizer of barren or disturbed habitats that usually has rapid growth and a high dispersal rate.

66
Q

Predation

A

Interaction in which one organism (the predator) uses another (the prey) as a food source.

67
Q

Predator

A

Organism the practices predation.

68
Q

Prey

A

Organism that provides nourishment for a predator.

69
Q

Producer

A

Photosynthetic organism at the start of a grazing food chain that makes its own food–e.g., green plants on land and algae in water.

70
Q

Resource partitioning

A

Mechanism that increases the number of Niches by apportioning the supply of a resource such as food or living space between species.

71
Q

Species diversity

A

Variety of species that make up a community.

72
Q

Species richness

A

Number of species in a community.

73
Q

Symbiosis

A

Relationship that occurs when two different species live together in a unique way; it may be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental to one or both species.

74
Q

Transfer rate

A

Amount of a substance that moves from one component of the environment to another within a specified period of time.

75
Q

trophic level

A

Feeding level of one or more populations in a food web.

76
Q

Water (hydrologic) cycle

A

Interdependent and continuous circulation of water from the ocean, to the atmosphere, to the land, and back to the ocean.

AP Biology (13 decks)

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