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 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.






2. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






3. The amount of time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to disappear.






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






5. States that matter can neither be created nor destroyed.






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






7. A process in which cold - often nutrient-rich - waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface.






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






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






10. Involves the sinking of shafts to reach underground deposits. In this type of mining - networks of tunnels are dug or blasted and humans enter these tunnels in order to manually retrieve the coal.






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






12. The conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into compounds - such as ammonia - by natural agencies or various industrial processes.






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






14. Transition in species composition of a biological community - often following ecological disturbance of the community; the establishment of a biological community in any area virtually barren of life.






15. The least pure coal.






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






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






18. Organisms that reproduce early in life and often and have a high capacity for reproductive growth.






19. 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.






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






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






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






23. 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.






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






25. The process of burning.






26. One that has never been cut; these forests have not been seriously disturbed for several hundred years.






27. The number of live births per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






28. A layer of soil.






29. When one species feeds on another.






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






31. The removal of select trees in an area; this leaves the majority of the habitat in place and has less of an impact on the ecosystem.






32. The region draining into river system or other body of water.






33. An area in which a particular mineral is concentrated - mining -the excavation of the Earth for the purpose of extracting ore or minerals.






34. Countries that have a renewable annual water supply of about 1 -000 -2 -000 m3 per person.






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






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






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






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






39. The result of a pathogen invading a body.






40. The process in which animals (and plants!) breathe and give off carbon dioxide from cellular metabolism.






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






42. Is equal to the number of deaths per 1 -000 members of the population in a year.






43. Bacteria - virus - or other microorganisms that can cause disease.






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






45. An organism that obtains organic food molecules without eating other organisms or substances derived from other organisms. autotrophs use energy from the sun or from the oxidation of inorganic substances to make organic molecules from inorganic ones.






46. A fiscal policy that lowers taxes on income - including wages and profit - and raises taxes on consumption - particularly the unsustainable consumption of non-renewable resources.






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






48. Also known as plantations - these are planted and managed tracts of trees of the same age that are harvested for commercial use.






49. The amount of the Earth's surface that's necessary to supply the needs of - and dispose of the waste from a particular population.






50. When mature trees are cut over a period of time (usually10 -20 years); this leaves mature trees - which can reseed the forest - in place.