AP®︎ Environmental Science: Topic 2.5 Flashcards

An event or process that changes an ecosystem’s physical environment, resources, populations, species composition, or community structure without originating from human activity

The characteristic pattern of disturbance type, frequency, intensity, extent, and season in an ecosystem

The May 18, 1980 eruption whose blast, ash, landslides, and mudflows caused widespread but uneven habitat destruction while leaving some biological refuges

Long-term climate variation caused by factors such as orbital changes, solar variation, volcanism, plate movement, circulation, reflectivity, and natural greenhouse-gas changes

More water stored in land ice lowers global sea level; melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets raises it

The hypothesis that species diversity may peak at intermediate disturbance because moderate disruption limits competitive dominance without preventing many species from persisting

A process that recurs in a generally regular and predictable pattern, though occurrences may vary in intensity

A process that occurs as distinct events or bursts separated by intervals, often with uncertain exact timing

A process without a predictable schedule or location at the scale considered, though it still has physical causes

Temporary or seasonal movement away from unfavorable conditions or toward needed resources, often followed by a return

A lasting shift in a population’s geographic distribution as suitable habitat conditions move or remain altered

An ecosystem’s ability to remain relatively unchanged when a disturbance occurs

An ecosystem’s ability or rate of recovery after it has been changed by a disturbance