2. Farming Practices And Production Flashcards
What do food chains and food webs show the transfer of ?
Energy through ecosystem.
What is each stage in a food chain called?
Trophic level.
What do food web?
Show lots of food chains in an ecosystem and how they overlap
Decomposers
Function of decomposers
Break down dead or undigested material , allowing nutrients to be recycled.
What is most farmers aim?
To increase amount of energy available for human consumption?
To increase the amount of energy that is available for human consumption what needs to be done ?
Increase in net primary production of crops.
Increase net production of livestock
Name 2 ways to increase NPP and NP
Reduce energy loss to other organisms - simplification of food webs.
Get rid of food chains that don’t involve humans.
Reduce Energy lost through respiration of livestock
Define net primary Production.
Energy available to plants for growth and reproduction (after respiratory loss has been deducted from GPP)
Energy available to next trophic level in food chain
Define net production.
Energy in consumers that is available to next trophic level in food chain.
What do pests reduce?
The amount of energy available for crop growth and therefore NPP of crops.
Meaning less energy for humans.
Why is it good if we simplify food webs?
It will reduce energy loss and the NPP of crop will increase.
More energy available for humans.
What are crops ?
Plants grown large scale for benefits of humans.
What are livestock?
Animals which are bred for their produce
Milk
Example.
Name 3 pests
Mouse
Weed
Aphid
Example.
What is wheat?
Crop grown for human consumption?
Example.
Why are the pests bad ?
They eat the wheat or Compete with it for energy.
They reduce wheats biomass and energy it has for further growth.
Meaning Wheats NPP and yield is smaller.
Less energy for humans.
Example.
How can we mitigate against this problem?
Getting rid of the food chain involving weed, minus and aphid.
Less energy transferred to pests.
Increasing NPP and yield of wheat.
More energy transfer to humans.
How do farmers actually get rid of pests?
Pest control.
Chemical pesticides.
Function of insecticides.
Kill insect pests eat and damage crops.
Killing insect means less biomass and energy lost from crops.
Larger NPP more energy for humans.
Function of herbicides.
Kill weeds.
Removes direct competition for energy from sun.
Remove preferred habitat/ food source of insect pest - simply food web
What can biological agents also do?
Reduce number of pests. Less energy loss from crops. Bigger yield and biomass More NPP More energy to humans
Function of parasites.
Live / lay eggs on pest insect.
Kill or reduce its ability to function
Function of pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
Kill pests produce toxins
Farmers can also use an integrated system. What does this combine?
Chemical and biological methods .
More effective
How do farmers increase net production of their livestock?
Controlling the conditions that they live in.
More energy used for growth.
Less lost in respiration and any activities.
How do farmers reduce respiratory loss from live stock?
Kept in pens where movement is restricted - as movement increases rate of respiration.
Pens indoors and kept warm, so less energy wasted on generating body heat.
Why is it important to reduce respiratory loss?
More biomass produced.
More chemical energy can be stored.
Increasing NP.
Increase efficiency of energy transfer to humans.
What are the benefits of reducing respiratory?
More food can be produced in shorter time at lower costs
Why is it bad to increase net Production when animals are in pens?
It raises ethical issues.
Intensively reared animals kept in cages could cause pain / distress.
Restricts natural behaviour
