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






2. An influential theory that concerns the long-term rate of conventional oil (and other fossil fuel) extraction and depletion. It predicts that future world oil production will soon reach a peak and then rapidly decline.






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






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






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






6. The structure obtained if we organize the amount of energy contained in producers and consumers in an ecosystem by kilocalories per square meter - from largest to smallest.






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






8. Formed from populations of different species occupying the same geographic area.






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






10. Smog resulting from emissions from industry and other sources of gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels - especially coal.






11. The process in which plants absorb ammonium (NH3) - ammonia ions (NH4+) - and nitrate ions (NO3) through their roots.






12. The development and introduction of new varieties of (mainly) wheat and rice that has increased yields per acre dramatically in countries since the 1960s.






13. A basic substance; chemically - a substance that absorbs hydrogen ions or releases hydroxyl ions; in reference to natural water - a measure of the base content of the water.






14. 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.






15. Nets that are dragged through the water and indiscriminately catch everything in their path.






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






17. A high-speed - meandering wind current - generally moving from a westerly direction at speeds often exceeding 400 km (250 miles) per hour at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10 to 15 miles).






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






19. Using strategies to reduce the amount of risk (the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen).






20. Also known as transform faults - boundaries at which plates are moving past each other - sideways.






21. A symbiotic relationship in which one member is helped by the association and the other is harmed.






22. The form petroleum takes when in the ground.






23. An organism that is capable of converting radiant energy or chemical energy into carbohydrates.






24. An introduced - normative species.






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






26. Occurs when infection causes a change in the state of health.






27. A soil horizon; B receives the minerals and organic materials that are leached out of the A horizon.






28. When ecological succession begins in a virtually lifeless area - such as the area behind a moving glacier.






29. A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations - and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.






30. The gaseous mass or envelope surrounding a celestial body - especially the one surrounding the Earth - which is retained by the celestial body's gravitational field.






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






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






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






34. An organism such as a bacterium or protozoan - that obtains its nourishment through the oxidation of inorganic chemical compounds - as opposed to photosynthesis.






35. 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






36. Involves the removal of the Earth's surface all the way down to the level of the mineral seam.






37. The maintenance of a species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation - with no concern as to their potential monetary value






38. 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.






39. Fish farming in which fish are caught in the wild and not raised in captivity for consumption.






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






41. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back into space.






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






43. Pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmosphere.






44. The rocks and Earth that is removed when mining for a commercially valuable mineral resource.






45. The removal of trees for agricultural purposes or purposes of exportation.






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






47. When soil becomes water-logged and then dries out - and salt forms a layer on its surface.






48. The amount that the population would grow if there were unlimited resources in its environment.






49. A tank filled with aerobic bacteria that's used to treat sewage.






50. Graphical representations of populations' ages.