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Test your basic knowledge |
AP Environmental Science
Start Test
Study First
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.
radiant energy
species
evolution
food chain
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.
keystone species
sludge processor
gray smog (industrial smog)
crude oil
3. Close - prolonged associations between two or more different organisms of different species that may - but do not necessarily benefit the members.
symbiotic relationships
r-selected
heterotrophy
deep well injection
4. Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.
alkaline
conservation
primary succession
noise pollution
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.
edge effect
acid precipitation
dose-response analysis
demographic transition model
6. A climate variation that takes place in the tropical Pacific about every three to seven years - for a duration of about one year.
stationary sources
El Nino
Uneven-aged management
pathogens
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.
La Nina
primary pollutants
intercropping (also called strip cropping)
wastewater
8. The place where two plates abut each other.
natural resources
primary pollutants
evolution
fault
9. Living or derived from living things.
convection currents
replacement birth rate
silt
biotic
10. The process by which specialized bacteria (mostly anaerobic bacteria) convert ammonia to NOy NO2 - and N2 and release it back to the atmosphere.
denitrification
tree farms
habitat fragmentation
O layer
11. Open or forested areas built at the outer edge of a city.
preservation
toxin
habitat
greenbelt
12. The thinning of the ozone layer over Antarctica (and to some extent - over the Arctic).
Horizon
ozone holes
reservoir
thermocline
13. The broad category under which selective cutting and shelter-wood cutting fall; selective deforestation.
Uneven-aged management
subbituminous
energy pyramid
old growth forest
14. The number of individuals of a population that inhabit a certain unit of land or water area.
albedo
nitrification
no-till
population density
15. The process that occurs when two different species in a region compete and the better adapted species wins.
LD50
species
competitive exclusion
R horizon
16. The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.
hazardous waste
point source pollution
secondary treatment
producer
17. Pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere.
volcanoes
delta
secondary pollutants
no-till
18. The capacity to do work.
fossil fuel
Gross Primary Productivity
salinization
energy
19. Says that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred and transformed.
barrels
biosphere
Waste-to-Energy (WTE) program
First Law of Thermodynamics
20. This category includes organisms that consume producers (plants and algae).
convergent boundary
primary consumers
abiotic
transform boundary
21. Areas where cutting has occurred and a new - younger forest has arisen.
global warming
second growth forests
sick building syndrome
consumer
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.
terracing
genetic drift
barrier island
conservation
23. The day-to-day variations in temperature - air pressure - wind - humidity - and precipitation mediated by the atmosphere in a given region.
invasive species
clear-cutting
producer
weather
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
Half-life
arable
hurricane (typhoon - cyclone)
fission
25. An erosion-resistant marine ridge or mound consisting chiefly of compacted coral together with algal material and biochemically deposited magnesium and calcium carbonates.
erosion
arable
coral reef
La Nina
26. A soil horizon - horizon C is made up of larger pieces of rock that have not undergone much weathering.
peak oil (Hubbert peak)
demographic transition model
bottom trawling
C layer
27. When a species occupies a smaller niche than it would in the absence of competition.
omnivores
humus
realized niche
anthracite
28. The bedrock - which lies below all of the other layers of soil - is referred to as the R horizon.
R horizon
transform boundary
acid precipitation
inner core
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.
ED50
earthquake
ecosystem capital
coral reef
30. When the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building.
sick building syndrome
traditional subsistence agriculture
riparian right
El Nino
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.
bioaccumulation
detritivore
red tide
agroforestry
32. When trees and crops are planted together - creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.
agroforestry
delta
risk assessment
noise pollution
33. The total sum of a species' use of the biotic and abiotic resources in its environment.
niche
watershed
Infection
heterotrophy
34. Organisms in the first stages of succession.
risk management
pioneer species
Superfund Program
sand
35. An organism that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.
producer
Southern Oscillation
gray smog (industrial smog)
heterotrophy
36. The result of graphing a dose-response analysis.
biotic
tropical storm
dose-response curve
Southern Oscillation
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.
upwelling
loamy
aquifer
kinetic energy
38. The degree to which a substance is biologically harmful.
salinization
edge effect
toxicity
birth rate (crude birth rate)
39. Any waste that poses a danger to human health; it must be dealt with in a different way from other types of waste.
mantle
ozone holes
hazardous waste
risk management
40. An effect that results from long -term exposure to low levels of toxin.
chronic effect
green tax
risk management
extinction
41. The amount of energy that plants pass on to the community of herbivores in an ecosystem.
nuclear fusion
net Primary Productivity (NPP)
clay
chemotroph (chemoautotroph)
42. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of less than 1 -000 m3 per person.
Infection
acid precipitation
reservoir
water-scarce
43. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.
vector
land degradation
anthracite
dose-response analysis
44. The part of the wide lower course of a river where its current is met by the tides.
asthenosphere
low-level radioactive waste
carrying capacity
estuary
45. Species that originate and live - or occur naturally - in an area or environment.
inner core
fly ash
tree farms
indigenous species
46. Organisms that derive energy from consuming nonliving organic matter.
detritivore
contour farming
extinction
convection currents
47. The result of a pathogen invading a body.
hydroelectric power
underground mining
plate boundaries
Infection
48. A semiconductor device that converts the energy of sunlight into electric energy.
land degradation
passive solar energy collection
poison
photovoltaic cell (PV cell)
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.
nitrogen fixation
petroleum
Gross Primary Productivity
composting
50. The A layer of soil is often referred to as topsoil and is most important for plant growth.
subbituminous
ecological succession
erosion
topsoil