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






2. The movement of individuals into a population.






3. 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.






4. A stable - mature community in a successive series that has reached equilibrium after having evolved through stages and adapted to its environment.






5. The layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.






6. 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).






7. Organisms that consume primary consumers.






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






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






10. 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.






11. A process that allows the organic material in solid waste to be decomposed and reintroduced into the soil - often as fertilizer.






12. Bacteria or fungi that absorb nutrients from nonliving organic matter like plant material - the wastes of living organisms - and corpses. They convert these materials into inorganic forms.






13. The uppermost horizon of soil. It is primarily made up of organic material - including waste from organisms - the bodies of decomposing organisms - and live organisms.






14. The water from which a river rises; a source.






15. Any weathering that's caused by the activities of living organisms.






16. Can consist of hazardous waste - industrial solid waste - or municipal waste. Many types of solid waste provide a threat to human health and the environment.






17. The accumulation of a substance - such as a toxic chemical - in various tissues of a living organism.






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






19. Air currents caused by the vertical movement of air due to atmospheric heating and cooling.






20. 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.






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






22. When companies are allowed to buy permits that allow them a certain amount of discharge of substances into certain environmental outlets. If they can reduce their amount of discharge - they are allowed to sell the remaining portion of their permit to






23. Devices containing alkaline substances that precipitate out much of the sulfur dioxide from industrial plants.






24. 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






25. A hydrocarbon deposit - such as petroleum - coal - or natural gas - derived from living matter of a previous geologic time and used for fuel.






26. 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.






27. Soil composed of a mixture of sand - clay - silt - and organic matter.






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






29. The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.






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






31. Any compound that releases hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Also - a water solution that contains a surplus of hydrogen ions.






32. When the size of an organism's natural habitat is reduced - or when development occurs that isolates a habitat.






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






34. Organisms that are capable of interbreeding with one another and incapable of breeding with other species.






35. The outer part of the Earth - consisting of the crust and upper mantle - approximately 100 km (62 miles) thick.






36. 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.






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






38. 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.






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






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






41. Says that the entropy (disorder) of the universe is increasing. One corollary of the Second Law of thermodynamics is the concept that - in most energy transformations - a significant fraction of energy is lost to the universe as heat.






42. 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).






43. 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.






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






45. The number of children a couple must have in order to replace themselves in a population.






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






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






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






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.






50. 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.