APES EXAM STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS WELL VERIFIED
.GRADED A+
food chain - ANSWER -series of organisms in which one eats or
decomposes the preceding one. The sequence of organisms in an
ecosystem through which energy is transferred.
food web - ANSWER -complex network of many interconnected food
chains and feeding relationships.
,geosphere - ANSWER -the earth's immensely hot core, thick mantle
comprised mostly of rock and a thin outer crust that contains most of
the earth's rock, soil, and sediment.
greenhouse effect - ANSWER -natural effect that releases heat into the
atmosphere near the earth's surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide,
ozone, and other gases in the troposphere absorb some of the infrared
radiation radiated by the earth's surface & release it as heat.
gross primary productivity - ANSWER -rate at which an ecosystem's
producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as
biomass in a given length of time.
groundwater - ANSWER -water that sinks into the soil and is stored in
slowly flowing and slowly renewed underground reservoirs called
aquifers; underground water in the zone of saturation, below the water
table.
hydrologic cycle - ANSWER -biogeochemical cycle that collects, purifies,
and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water from the environment
to living organisms and then back to the environment.
,hydrosphere - ANSWER -the earth's liquid water (lakes, rivers, ponds,
ocean, underground water), frozen water (icecaps, glaciers,
permafrost), and gaseous water (water vapor in the atmosphere).
net primary productivity - ANSWER -rate at which all plants in an
ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy; equal to the difference
between the rate at which the plants in an ecosystem produce useful
chemical energy (gross primary productivity) & the rate at which they
use some of that energy through cellular respiration.
nitrogen cycle - ANSWER -cyclic movement of nitrogen in different
chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to
the environment.
nutrient - ANSWER -any chemical an organism must take in to live,
grow, and reproduce.
nutrient cycle (biogeochemical cycle) - ANSWER -natural process that
recycles nutrients in various chemical forms from the nonliving
environment to living organisms & then back to the nonliving
environment.
omnivore - ANSWER -animal that can use both plants and animals as
food sources.
, phosphorous cycle - ANSWER -cyclic movement of phosphorous in
different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then
back to the environment.
photosynthesis - ANSWER -complex process in the cells of green plants
that captures light energy and converts it to chemical bond energy.
primary consumer (herbivore) - ANSWER -organism that feeds on some
of all parts of plants or on other producers.
producer (autotroph) - ANSWER -organism that uses solar energy or
chemical energy to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as
nutrients from simple inorganic compounds obtained from the
environment.
pyramid of energy flow (trophic pyramid) - ANSWER -diagram
representing the flow of energy through each trophic level in a food
chain or food web. With each energy transfer, 10% of usable energy is
transferred to the next level.
secondary consumer (carnivore) - ANSWER -organism that feeds only
on primary consumers.
CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS WELL VERIFIED
.GRADED A+
food chain - ANSWER -series of organisms in which one eats or
decomposes the preceding one. The sequence of organisms in an
ecosystem through which energy is transferred.
food web - ANSWER -complex network of many interconnected food
chains and feeding relationships.
,geosphere - ANSWER -the earth's immensely hot core, thick mantle
comprised mostly of rock and a thin outer crust that contains most of
the earth's rock, soil, and sediment.
greenhouse effect - ANSWER -natural effect that releases heat into the
atmosphere near the earth's surface. Water vapor, carbon dioxide,
ozone, and other gases in the troposphere absorb some of the infrared
radiation radiated by the earth's surface & release it as heat.
gross primary productivity - ANSWER -rate at which an ecosystem's
producers capture and store a given amount of chemical energy as
biomass in a given length of time.
groundwater - ANSWER -water that sinks into the soil and is stored in
slowly flowing and slowly renewed underground reservoirs called
aquifers; underground water in the zone of saturation, below the water
table.
hydrologic cycle - ANSWER -biogeochemical cycle that collects, purifies,
and distributes the earth's fixed supply of water from the environment
to living organisms and then back to the environment.
,hydrosphere - ANSWER -the earth's liquid water (lakes, rivers, ponds,
ocean, underground water), frozen water (icecaps, glaciers,
permafrost), and gaseous water (water vapor in the atmosphere).
net primary productivity - ANSWER -rate at which all plants in an
ecosystem produce net useful chemical energy; equal to the difference
between the rate at which the plants in an ecosystem produce useful
chemical energy (gross primary productivity) & the rate at which they
use some of that energy through cellular respiration.
nitrogen cycle - ANSWER -cyclic movement of nitrogen in different
chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then back to
the environment.
nutrient - ANSWER -any chemical an organism must take in to live,
grow, and reproduce.
nutrient cycle (biogeochemical cycle) - ANSWER -natural process that
recycles nutrients in various chemical forms from the nonliving
environment to living organisms & then back to the nonliving
environment.
omnivore - ANSWER -animal that can use both plants and animals as
food sources.
, phosphorous cycle - ANSWER -cyclic movement of phosphorous in
different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and then
back to the environment.
photosynthesis - ANSWER -complex process in the cells of green plants
that captures light energy and converts it to chemical bond energy.
primary consumer (herbivore) - ANSWER -organism that feeds on some
of all parts of plants or on other producers.
producer (autotroph) - ANSWER -organism that uses solar energy or
chemical energy to manufacture the organic compounds it needs as
nutrients from simple inorganic compounds obtained from the
environment.
pyramid of energy flow (trophic pyramid) - ANSWER -diagram
representing the flow of energy through each trophic level in a food
chain or food web. With each energy transfer, 10% of usable energy is
transferred to the next level.
secondary consumer (carnivore) - ANSWER -organism that feeds only
on primary consumers.
