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






3. A model that's used to predict population trends based on the birth and death rates as well as economic status of a population.






4. Energy at rest - or stored energy.






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






6. 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






7. A group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area.






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






9. The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.






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






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






12. The right - as to fishing or to the use of a riverbed - of one who owns riparian land (the land adjacent to a river or stream).






13. The management or regulation of a resource so that its use does not exceed the capacity of the resource to regenerate itself.






14. The practice of alternating the crops grown on a piece of land - for example - corn one year - legumes for two years - and then back to corn.






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






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






17. The more or less constant winds blowing in horizontal directions over the Earth's surface - as part of Hadley cells.






18. Gave the EPA power to set emission standards for major sources of noise - including transportation - machinery - and construction.






19. The movement of individuals into a population.






20. The effect caused by a short exposure to a high level of toxin.






21. The atmospheric pressure conditions corresponding to the periodic warming of El Nino and cooling of La Nina.






22. Biotic and abiotic natural ecosystems.






23. The low-rainfall region that exists on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountain range. This rain shadow is the result of the mountain range's causing precipitation on the windward side.






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






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






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






27. Organisms that consume both producers and primary consumers.






28. 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.






29. 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.






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






31. A group of modern windmills.






32. The second-purest form of coal.






33. The third purest form of coal.






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






35. The finest soil - made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter.






36. The management of forest plantations for the purpose of harvesting timber.






37. When physically treated sewage water is passed into a settling tank - where suspended solids settle out as sludge; chemically treated polymers may be added to help the suspended solids separate and settle out.






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






39. An estimate of the amount of fossil fuel that can be obtained from reserve.






40. Calculating risk - or the degree of likelihood that a person will become ill upon exposure to a toxin or pathogen.






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






42. A layer of soil.






43. Urban areas that heat up more quickly and retain heat more than do nonurban areas.






44. The energy of motion.






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






46. A fishing technique in which the ocean floor is literally scraped by heavy nets that smash everything in their path.






47. Refers to resources - such as plants and animals - which can be regenerated if harvested at sustainable yields.






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






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






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