Test your basic knowledge |

AP Environmental Science

Subjects : science, ap
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A succession of organisms in an ecological community that constitutes a continuation of food energy from one organism to another as each consumes a lower member and - in turn - is preyed upon by a higher member.






2. A species whose very presence contributes to an ecosystem's diversity and whose extinction would consequently lead to the extinction of other forms of life.






3. Close - prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may - but do not necessarily benefit the members.






4. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.






5. The condition in which - at ecosystem boundaries - there is greater species diversity and biological density than there is in the heart of ecological communities.






6. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.






7. A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America - occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.






8. The place where two plates abut each other.






9. Living or derived from living things.






10. The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2 - and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere.






11. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.






12. The thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent - over the Arctic).






13. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.






14. The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.






15. The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.






16. The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.






17. Pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere.






18. The capacity to do work.






19. Says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed.






20. This category includes organisms that consume producers (plants and algae).






21. Areas where cutting has occurred and a new - younger forest has arisen.






22. The random fluctuations in the frequency of the appearance of a gene in a small isolated population - presumably owing to chance - rather than natural selection.






23. The day-to-day variations in temperature - air pressure - wind - humidity - and precipitation mediated by the atmosphere in a given region.






24. A nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus - especially a heavy nucleus such as an isotope of uranium - splits into fragments - usually two fragments of comparable mass - releasing from 100 million to several hundred million electron volts of ener






25. An erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates.






26. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.






27. When a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition.






28. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.






29. The result of vibrations (often due to plate movements) deep in the Earth that release energy. They often occur as two plates slide past one another at a transform boundary.






30. When the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building.






31. A bloom of dinoflagellates that causes reddish discoloration of coastal ocean waters. Certain dinoflagellates of the genus Gonyamfox produce toxins that kill fish and contaminate shellfish.






32. When trees and crops are planted together - creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.






33. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.






34. Organisms in the first stages of succession.






35. An organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.






36. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.






37. An underground layer of porous rock - sand - or other material that allows the movement of water between layers of nonporous rock or clay. Aquifers are frequently tapped for wells.






38. The degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.






39. Any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste.






40. An effect that results from long -term exposure to low levels of toxin.






41. The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.






42. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1 -000 m3 per person.






43. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






44. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.






45. Species that originate and live - or occur naturally - in an area or environment.






46. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.






47. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






48. A semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy.






49. The amount of sugar that the plants produce in photosynthesis and subtracting from it the amount of energy the plants need for growth maintenance - repair - and reproduction.






50. The A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.