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






2. Fires that typically burn only the forest's underbrush and do little damage to mature trees. Surface fires actually serve to protect the forest from more harmful fires by removing underbrush and dead materials that would burn quickly and at high temp






3. A severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean - traveling north - northwest - or northeast from its point of origin - and usually involving heavy rains.






4. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






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






6. The solids that remain after the secondary treatment of sewage.






7. A complex of interrelated food chains in an ecological community.






8. In tectonic plates - the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.






9. In fishing - the use of long lines that have baited hooks and will be taken by numerous aquatic organisms.






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






11. The gradual breakdown of rock into smaller and smaller particles - caused by natural chemical - physical - and biological factors.






12. The process in which soil becomes saltier and saltier until - finally - the salt prevents the growth of plants. Salinization is caused by irrigation because salts brought in with the water remain in the soil as water evaporates.






13. A specific location from which pollution is released; an example of a point source location is a factory where wood is being burned.






14. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






15. Refers to when farmers plant seeds without using a plow to turn the soil.






16. Any substance that has an LD50 - of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.






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






18. When photochemical smog - NOx compounds - VOCs - and ozone combine to form smog with a brownish hue.






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






20. The process of burning.






21. When populations are well below the size dictated by the carrying capacity of the region they live in - they will grow exponentially - but as they approach the carrying capacity - their growth rate will decrease and the size of the population will ev






22. The area or environment where an organism or ecological community normally lives or occurs.






23. A plate boundary where two plates are moving toward each other.






24. A usually triangular alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river.






25. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels.






26. The process in which soil bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to a form that can be used by plants; nitrate - or NO3.






27. Creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface - which reduces soil runoff from the slope.






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






29. The movement of individuals out of a population.






30. The raising of fish and other aquatic species in captivity for harvest.






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. A long - relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland-built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.






33. Soil with particles 0.002 -0.05 mm in diameter.






34. A symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.






35. A lowland area - such as a marsh or swamp - that is saturated with moisture - especially when regarded as the natural habitat of wildlife.






36. Piles of gangue - which is the waste material that results from mining.






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






38. When one species feeds on another.






39. The number of children an average woman will bear during her lifetime; this information is based on an analysis of data from preceding years in the population in question.






40. 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.






41. Pollution that does not have a specific point of release - open -loop recycling -when materials are reused to form new products.






42. The use of building materials - building placement - and design to passively collect solar energy that can be used to keep a building warm or cool.






43. A region of the ocean near the equator - characterized by calms - light winds - or squalls.






44. The unit used to describe the volume of fossil fuels.






45. The capacity to do work.






46. Land that's fit to be cultivated.






47. The maximum population size that can be supported by the available resources in a region.






48. Non-moving sources of pollution - such as factories.






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






50. In a sewage treatment plant - the initial filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones - sticks - rags - toys - and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.