APES Final Review
Fall Semester 2006
The first ever CPS APES final
exam will include all of the material in chapters 1-14 in Botkin and Keller,
plus additional topics and readings that weÕve done in class. There will be
roughly 30 multiple choice questions and 4 free response questions. These
questions will be drawn from a variety of sources – the questions at the
end of the chapters in Botkin, and in the online quizzes that come with the
text, old AP Environmental Science tests, etc. I suggest using the review
materials that come with your text to get practice in actually answering
questions, since we havenÕt had that many tests and quizzes this semester.
The final will be curved,
and will represent approximately 20% of your final grade.
Topics:
The Scientific Method
Characteristics of
Environmental Problems
Amphibian Decline
Extent
of problem
Significance
Possible
Causes
Populations
Definitions
in Text
Logistic
and exponential growth
Birth
rate terms (box in text)
Age
structure – types and significance
Ecological
Footprint – significance with respect to carrying capactity
Demographic
transition model
Systems –
open/closed etc
Feedbacks – positive
and negative
Biogeochemical Cycles:
major pathways, rates of cycling, impacts of humans
Hydrologic
Tectonic
Carbon
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Sulfur
Ecosystems and Communities
Ecosystem
Services
Primary
Productivity
Gross
and net
Global
patterns
Significance
with respect to carbon cycle and food webs
Thermodynamics
Trophic
efficiency
Pros
and cons of eating lower on the food chain
Food
Webs
Connectance
Top-down,
bottom-up
Trophic
cascades
Coevolution
Significance
for resource conservation and management
Mercury
and biomagnification
Disturbance
Examples
Intermediate
Disturbance Hypothesis
Significance
in natural systems – Yellowstone fires
SarahÕs
work with frogs – timing of pulsed flows
Succession
Primary
Secondary
Habitat
heterogeneity
Climax
communities
Ecosystem
Restoration
Major
issues
Biodiversity
Types
of Biodiversity
Where
does it come from?
History
of Biodiversity
Precambrian
Cambrian
Explosion
Major
milestones in geologic time
Major
Extinctions
When
What
potential causes
What
groups most impacted
Values
of Biodiversity
Threats
to Biodiversity
Case
Studies
Managing Biodiversity
Island
Biogeography (Ecological Islands)
Fragmentation
Species-Area
Relationships
Edge
Effects
Forest
management issues (as an example of larger issues)
Endangered Species
Endangered
Species Act
Characteristics
of endangered species
Managing
genetic diversity in captive populations