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Environmental Science Units 1 and 2 Study Guide

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Study Guide for Units 1 and 2 for Environmental Science (at any level- these notes were taken for AP). Basic definitions along with step by step explanations for different environmental cycles. Concepts include nitrogen, phosphorous, carbon cycle; evolution; biogeochemical cycle; biomes; productivity.

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Units 1 & 2 Biomes
Land
Intro
Abiotic climate factors: convection,
Environmental science:
altitude, winds
Energy transfer:energy is
-Latitude: relationship between
transferred through food chain,
temp/ precipitation and the equator
only 10% moves trophic levels
Leeward Mountains: less
Interactions between earth
precipitation, back to wind
systems:natural systems affect
Windward Mountains: faces wind,
each other ex: water cycle
low productivity
Sustainability: activities that won’t
jeopardize future generations’ actions Deserts: low precip/ productivity
Accuracy vs. Precision: hitting - Adaptations:store water/fat,
target vs hitting the same spot reduced growth rate, spikes,
Entropy: always increasing, degree camouflage, conserve energy
of randomness, heat loss Subtropic: between temperate and

Resource partitioning: competition tropics, dry air
splits up limited resources Rainshadow: leeward, dry,

-Temporal: resources used at mountainous
different times Coastal: wind parallel to coast, fog

-Spatial: different areas of resource Temperate: seasonal temperature

-Morphological: evolving to need Polar: always dry and cold

resource in different ways Grasslands: mild. Seasonal
Parasites: rely on host, live inside,
precip, warm temp, moderate
feed off host
productivity
-Parasitoids: lay eggs in host, kills
-Adaptations: deep roots, low lying
off host
plants
-Pathogens: disease causing agent
Savannas: (tropical) near equator,
Gross primary productivity: rate at
always warm, seasonal rain
which solar energy is captured
Prairies: (temperate) seasonal
during photosynthesis
temp, moderate precip, mid
Net primary productivity: GPP
latitude
minus rate at which energy is lost
Tundras: (polar) short growing
Primary productivity: process by
season, permafrost, always cold,
which organisms make their own
moderate precip
food

, Forests: high productivity/ precip -Headwaters: river source, cold,
clear, fresh, high DO
Emergent layer: upper layer, direct
-Transition: widens/ deepens, low
sun, most of life in forest
DO, high nutrients
Understory layer: below canopy, 5%
- Floodplains: regularly floods
of sunlight, high decomposition
-Mouth: low DO, high nutrients,
Tropical rainforest: high precip,
warm water, moderate salinity
broad leaf plants only, highest
Wetlands: waterlogged soil, low DO
productivity
-Marshes: low lying trees
Temperate: high precip, seasonal temp
-Bogs: acidic water
Deciduous: moderate precip,
-Swamps: low lying with trees
seasonal temp, shed leaves
Boreal: cold/ dry, coniferous trees

Mediterranean: seasonal precip,
Coastal:
small conifers and shrubs
Tidal flats: covered/ uncovered by
Aquatic tides
Salinity:amount of salt in water Lagoons: by sandbanks or reefs,
Hardness: amount of magnesium saltwater pools
and calcium in water Estuary: partially enclosed, river

Dissolved oxygen: (DO) oxygen gas mixes with sea, brackish water,
concentration high productivity
Cloudiness: how clear the H2O is Delta:landforms of sediment at a

Other factors: pH, nutrients river's mouth
Freshwater: low salinity Ocean:
Lakes & Ponds Intertidal:changes from dry to
-Littoral zone:near shore, shallow, submerged based on tide
warm, plants reach through water -Rocky shore: slow erosion

-Limnetic zone: open water, no -Sandy shore: rapid erosion

plants, sunlight, warmish, Coral reefs: exoskeletons of coral

phytoplankton polyps, warm, shallow, sunlit water
-Profundal zone: cold, aphotic Open ocean: areas beyond

Oligotrophic: low nutrients, clear, continental shelf
limited phytoplankton/ algae Abyssal plain: no light, food web

Eutrophic: high nutrients, based on decomposition
excessive algae, very cloudy
Stream: runoff to river

Document information

School year
3
Uploaded on
December 5, 2024
Number of pages
5
Written in
2023/2024
Type
Class notes
Professor(s)
Kayce looper
Contains
Environmental science
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