AP Environmental Science Exam Practice Questions and Answers

AP Environmental Science Exam Practice Questions and Answers

33. Ammonification: decomposers convert organic waste into ammonia 34. Niche: the status of an organism within its environment and community 35. Ecotone: the transition from one type of habitat or ecosystem to another 36. Autotroph: organism that makes its own food 37. Heterotroph: an organism that depends on complex organic substances for nutrition; cannot make food 38.Interspecific Competition: competition between members of different species 39.Intraspecific Competition: competition between members of the same species 40. Net Primary Productivity: the rate at which biomass accumulatesin an ecosys- tem 41. Gross Primary Productivity: the rate at which energy is produced in an ecosys- tem 42.Indicator Species: species that serve as early warnings that an ecosystem is being damaged 43. Keystone Species: a speciesthat influencesthe survival of many otherspecies in an ecosystem 44. Resource Partitioning: difference of niches that enables similar species to coexist in a community 45. Umbrella Species: a species that impacts the survival of many species 46. Euphotic Zone: layer of water where sunlight is sufficient for photosynthesis to occur 47. Thermal Stratification: vertical temperature layering 48. Salinization: the buildup of salts in surface soil layers 49. Oligotrophic: system in which productivity and nutrient content are low 50. Eutrophication: process of a body of water becoming too rich in nutrients, leading to plant growth that depletes oxygen 51. Trawler Fishing: dragging a net held open at the neck along the ocean bottom to get bottom-dwelling fish 52. Purse-seine Fishing: a large net is encircled around the targeted catch,then the bottom of the net is drawn tight like the strings of a purse 53. Drift Net Fishing: catching fish in huge nets that drift in the water 54. Long Line Fishing: fishing by dragging long lines with baited hooks 55. Floodplain: a low plain adjacent to a river and subject to flooding 56. Center-pivot Irrigation: a type of irrigation that waters crops using sprinkler systems on huge turning wheels 57. Trickle Irrigation: a form of irrigation that saves water by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants 58. Watershed: the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place 59. Evapotranspiration: the evaporation of water from soil plus the transpiration of water from plants 60. Xeriscaping: a method of landscaping that uses plants that are well adapted to the local area and are drought resistant 61. Growth Rate: rate of increase or decrease of a population 62. Total Fertility Rate: measures the number of children born per woman 63. Replacement Fertility Rate: the average number of children that couples in a population must have to replace themselves 64. Zero Population Growth: when the birth rate equals the death rate