APES Fall Final Exam Review Questions and
Answers
Photosynthesis - -The process by which producers use sunlight with CO2 and H2O to
synthesize sugars and release oxygen.
-Respiration - -The metabolic process by which organisms obtain energy form organic
molecules (glucose) and produce CO2 and H2O.
-Rain Shadow Effect - -Arid conditions on the leeward side of a mountain due to low
precipitation when winds flow up and over high mountains.
-Transpiration - -Process in which water is absorbed by plant roots, moves up through the
plants, and passes through stomata in the leaves, releasing the water as water vapor.
-Precipitation - -Water in the form of rain, sleet, hail, and snow that falls from the
atmosphere onto land and bodies of water.
-Population - -Group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular
area.
-Community - -Populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular
time.
-Ecosystem - -One or more communities of different species interacting with one another
and with the nonliving factors in the environment.
-Biome - -Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation. EX:
deserts, grasslands, and forests.
-Carrying Capacity (K) - -The maximum population of a species a habitat can support over
a given period.
-Food Web - -Complex network of interconnected food chains.
-Food Chain - -Series of organisms in which one eats or decomposes the preceding one.
-Trophic Level - -A position in a food chain or Ecological Pyramid occupied by a group of
organisms with similar feeding mode. EX: producers, primary consumers, secondary
consumers, etc...
-Biomagnification - -Increase in concentration of DDT, PCBs, and other slowly degradable,
fat-soluble chemicals in organisms at higher trophic levels.
, -Predation - -Interaction in which an organism of one species (the predator) captures and
foods on an organism of another species (the prey).
-Commensalism - -Species interaction in which one benefits and the other type is neither
helped nor harmed.
-Mutualism - -Species interaction in which both species generally benefit.
-Parasitism - -Species interaction in which one organism (the parasite) preys on another
organism (the host) by living in or on the host.
-Niche - -Way of life or role of a species in an ecosystem; includes all physical, chemical,
and biological conditions needed for a species to live and reproduce.
-Habitat - -Place where an organism or population lives.
-Net Primary Productivity (NPP) - -The gross primary productivity minus the energy used
by the producers for cellular respiration; represents the storage of chemical energy in an
ecosystem available to consumers.
-Keystone Species - -Important species that plays a role affecting many other organisms in
an ecosystem.
-Competitive Exclusion Principle - -Ecological rule that states that no two species can
occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time
-Resource Partitioning - -The division of environmental resources so that species with
similar needs use the same resources at different times, ways, or places.
-Environmental Footprint - -Measure of how much of the earth individuals require to
provide the resources they consume, often measured in terms of global hectares (gha) per
person.
-Exponential Growth - -Growth in which a quantity increases at a constant rate per unit
time (EX: population size or economic output).
-Logistic Growth - -Pattern in which population growth occurs exponentially when its
small, but then decreases with time as the population approaches carrying capacity.
-Crude Birth Rate - -Annual number of live births per 1,000 people in a given area.
-Crude Death Rate - -Annual number of deaths per 1,000 people in a given area.
-Total Fertility Rate (TFR) - -Estimate of the average number of children women will have
in their childbearing years (15-44).
Answers
Photosynthesis - -The process by which producers use sunlight with CO2 and H2O to
synthesize sugars and release oxygen.
-Respiration - -The metabolic process by which organisms obtain energy form organic
molecules (glucose) and produce CO2 and H2O.
-Rain Shadow Effect - -Arid conditions on the leeward side of a mountain due to low
precipitation when winds flow up and over high mountains.
-Transpiration - -Process in which water is absorbed by plant roots, moves up through the
plants, and passes through stomata in the leaves, releasing the water as water vapor.
-Precipitation - -Water in the form of rain, sleet, hail, and snow that falls from the
atmosphere onto land and bodies of water.
-Population - -Group of individual organisms of the same species living in a particular
area.
-Community - -Populations of all species living and interacting in an area at a particular
time.
-Ecosystem - -One or more communities of different species interacting with one another
and with the nonliving factors in the environment.
-Biome - -Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation. EX:
deserts, grasslands, and forests.
-Carrying Capacity (K) - -The maximum population of a species a habitat can support over
a given period.
-Food Web - -Complex network of interconnected food chains.
-Food Chain - -Series of organisms in which one eats or decomposes the preceding one.
-Trophic Level - -A position in a food chain or Ecological Pyramid occupied by a group of
organisms with similar feeding mode. EX: producers, primary consumers, secondary
consumers, etc...
-Biomagnification - -Increase in concentration of DDT, PCBs, and other slowly degradable,
fat-soluble chemicals in organisms at higher trophic levels.
, -Predation - -Interaction in which an organism of one species (the predator) captures and
foods on an organism of another species (the prey).
-Commensalism - -Species interaction in which one benefits and the other type is neither
helped nor harmed.
-Mutualism - -Species interaction in which both species generally benefit.
-Parasitism - -Species interaction in which one organism (the parasite) preys on another
organism (the host) by living in or on the host.
-Niche - -Way of life or role of a species in an ecosystem; includes all physical, chemical,
and biological conditions needed for a species to live and reproduce.
-Habitat - -Place where an organism or population lives.
-Net Primary Productivity (NPP) - -The gross primary productivity minus the energy used
by the producers for cellular respiration; represents the storage of chemical energy in an
ecosystem available to consumers.
-Keystone Species - -Important species that plays a role affecting many other organisms in
an ecosystem.
-Competitive Exclusion Principle - -Ecological rule that states that no two species can
occupy the same exact niche in the same habitat at the same time
-Resource Partitioning - -The division of environmental resources so that species with
similar needs use the same resources at different times, ways, or places.
-Environmental Footprint - -Measure of how much of the earth individuals require to
provide the resources they consume, often measured in terms of global hectares (gha) per
person.
-Exponential Growth - -Growth in which a quantity increases at a constant rate per unit
time (EX: population size or economic output).
-Logistic Growth - -Pattern in which population growth occurs exponentially when its
small, but then decreases with time as the population approaches carrying capacity.
-Crude Birth Rate - -Annual number of live births per 1,000 people in a given area.
-Crude Death Rate - -Annual number of deaths per 1,000 people in a given area.
-Total Fertility Rate (TFR) - -Estimate of the average number of children women will have
in their childbearing years (15-44).
