3.5 Food Production Flashcards
What is required to increase the human population?
Increased food yield.
What is needed to increase food yield?
Fertiliser and pesticides.
What do fertilisers provide?
Soil nitrates to increase crop yield.
What are nitrates dissolved in soil water absorbed into?
Plant roots.
What do plants produce using nitrates?
Amino acids which are synthesised into plant proteins.
How do animals obtain their nitrogen for protein?
By consuming plants.
When fertilisers leach into freshwater, what can it cause?
Algal blooms.
What can algae blooms lead to?
A reduction in light levels, killing aquatic plants.
What do dead plants and dead algae become?
Food for bacteria, which increases greatly in number.
What does the bacteria use up?
Large quantities of oxygen, reducing availability for other organisms.
What do pesticides kill?
Plants and animals that reduce crop yield.
What can happen when pesticides are sprayed onto crops?
They can accumulate in the bodies of organisms over time.
What happens when pesticides are passed along food chains?
Toxicity increases and can reach lethal levels.
Name an alternative to pesticides.
Biological control.
Name an alternative to fertilisers and pesticides use.
GM crops.
