APES Final Study Guide Essay

1. Tragedy of the Commons: an essay written by Garret Hardin explaining that a resource held in common that is accessible to all and is unregulated will eventually become overused and degraded. He argued it was in our best interest to develop guidelines for the use of such resources.
2. Design an Experiment (skip)
3. Nitrogen cycle:
-nitrogen fixation: nitrogen gas (N₂) must be “fixed”, or combined win hydrogen in nature to form ammonia (NH₃), (accomplished in 2 ways: intense energy of lightening or when air in the top layer of soil comes in contact with particular types of nitrogen-fixing bacteria)
-ammonification: decomposition with production of ammonia or ammonium compounds especially by the action of bacteria on nitrogenous organic matter
-Nitrification: is the process that converts ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate
-Denitrification: is the reduction of nitrates back into the largely inert nitrogen gas
4. Phosphorus cycle: no gaseous phase; weathering releases phosphates. Phosphorus is major terrestrial plant limiting factor, and aquatic systems
5. Carbon Cycle: largest reservoirs are in 1) carbonate rock; 2) oceans. Movement through photosynthesis, respiration, and diffusion.
6. Photosynthesis: plants convert CO₂ in the atmosphere into sugars (C6H12O6)
7. Aerobic Respiration: O₂ taken in, releases energy in stored sugars, CO₂ released. Done by both animals and plants.
8. Land Use: a. Multiple use US lands: National Forest, National Resource Lands b. Moderately Restricted: National Wildlife Refuges c. Restricted Use Lands: National Parks, National Wilderness Preservations d. Forestry Practices:
*clear-cutting- all trees are cut, leaving only stumps
*Seed-tree harvesting-leaves small numbers of mature and vigorous seed-producing trees standing so that they can reseed a logged area
*Selection system- a minority of trees is removed at any one time, while most are left standing
*Shelterwood- mature trees are left in the harvested area in sufficient numbers to provide shade and protection for seedlings
*Slash and Burn: cutting down and burning trees and plants in order to clear an area of land and grow crops on it for a brief time
*Strip cutting: forest harvested in a long narrow clear cuts designed to mimic natural forest disturbance caused by fall of single large trees
*Tree plantations: creates instant forests, grows seedlings to average height of 15 ft. before transplant for global forest industry

Ecosystem-based management: attempts to manage the harvesting of resources in ways that minimize impact on the ecosystems and ecological processes that provide the resource
Adaptive management: involves systematically testing different management approaches and aiming to improve methods as time goes on
Wildfires: wildfires used to be suppressed every time but have actually caused catastrophic fires later, now the Forest Service do prescribed burns or controlled burns to control the land. Forests naturally need wild fires for taking out clutter and pollination.
e. Effects of Overgrazing: damage to soil, natural communities, and the lands productivity for grazing, open to more erosion, invasive species can outcompete native vegetation, alter soil structure, animals stomp on soil and make it compact
f. Divergent plate boundary: magma extrudes from beneath the crust, and the two plates move gradually away from the boundary in the manner of conveyor belts
Transform plate boundary: two plates slide along one another, creating friction that leads to earthquakes
Convergent plate boundary: one plate may be subducted beneath another, leading to volcanism, or both plates may be uplifted, causing mountain ranges to form
g. Ore: rock that contains a large enough concentration of mineral to be profitable for mining
h. Mineral reserve: identified deposits currently profitable for extraction
i. Subsurface mining: miners work below ground in shafts and tunnels blasted through rocks; these passageways provide access to underground

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