apex

(noun)

The highest point of something.

Related Terms

Examples of apex in the following topics:

  • Biological Magnification

    • One of the most important environmental consequences of ecosystem dynamics is biomagnification: the increasing concentration of persistent, toxic substances in organisms at each trophic level, from the primary producers to the apex consumers.
    • In some aquatic ecosystems, organisms from each trophic level consumed many organisms of the lower level, which caused DDT to increase in birds (apex consumers) that ate fish.
    • The apex consumer (walleye) had more than four times the amount of PCBs compared to phytoplankton.

  • Dark-Field Microscopy

    • The light at the apex of the cone is focused at the plane of the specimen; as this light moves past the specimen plane it spreads again into a hollow cone.
    • When a sample is on the stage, the light at the apex of the cone strikes it.

  • The Neopalatial Period

    • The apex of Minoan civilization occurred during the Neopalatial period, and lasted from 1700 to 1450 BCE.

  • Patella (The Knee)

    • The apex of the patella faces inferiorly and connects to the tibia tuberosity through the patella ligament that attaches to the anterior surface.

  • The Minoans

    • The Protopalatial period of Minoan civilization (1900 to 1700 BCE) and the Neopalatial Period (1700-1450 BCE) saw the establishment of administrative centers on Crete and the apex of Minoan civilization, respectively.

  • Pulse

    • In this case, the heart rate is determined by auscultation or audible sounds at the heart apex, not the pulse.
    • The pulse deficit (difference between heartbeats and pulsations at the periphery) is determined by simultaneous palpation at the radial artery and auscultation at the heart apex.

  • Functions of Stems

    • The apex (tip) of the shoot contains the apical meristem within the apical bud.

  • Transferring of Energy between Trophic Levels

    • In the Lake Ontario ecosystem food web, only three energy transfers occurred between the primary producer (green algae) and the tertiary, or apex, consumer (Chinook salmon) .
    • Primary producers are outlined in green, primary consumers in orange, secondary consumers in blue, and tertiary (apex) consumers in purple.

  • Food Chains and Food Webs

    • Higher-level consumers feed on the next lower trophic levels, and so on, up to the organisms at the top of the food chain, which are called the apex consumers.
    • Primary producers are outlined in green, primary consumers in orange, secondary consumers in blue, and tertiary (apex) consumers in purple.

  • The Cardiac Cycle

    • Finally, the Purkinje fibers conduct the impulse from the apex of the heart up the ventricular myocardium, causing the ventricles to contract.
    • The signal is (b) delayed at the atrioventricular node before it is passed on to the (c) heart apex.