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ESS Notes > 5 > Flashcards

5 Flashcards

1
Q

Soil

A

Complex system.
Holds Minerals, air, liquids, organic material.
Habitat for plant and animals.

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2
Q

Transfers in the Soil System

A

Biological mixing
Translocation - movement of particles
Leaching - minerals dissolved in water moving through the soil

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3
Q

What does Soil Store

A

Organic matter
Organisms
Nutrients
Minerals
Air
Water

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4
Q

Transformations in the Soil System

A

Decomposition
Weathering
Nutrient Cycles

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5
Q

O-Horizon

A

Upper layer of newly added organic material.
Decomposers start ti break down organic material.

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6
Q

A-Horizon

A

Humus - partially decomposed organic matter and fine mineral particles.

Water logging slows decompositions, fewer decomposers, leads to a build up of organic material and eventually peat soil.

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7
Q

E- Horizon

A

Depletion of amount of organic matter. Minerals such as iron, clay and aluminium compounds are present.

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8
Q

B-Horizon

A

Soluble minerals depsoited here from the layer above. Clay, iron and slats.

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9
Q

C-Horizon

A

Weathered rock from which the soil forms.

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10
Q

R-Horizon

A

Parent material, bedrock or other.

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11
Q

Sandy Soils

A

Gritty and fall apart easily - high air supply and drainage.

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12
Q

Silty Soils

A

Slippery wet, holds together better than sandy soil. Hold sand and clay particles togehter.

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13
Q

Clay Soils

A

Sticky and rolled into a ball easily, hold together well. Retains water and nutrients.

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14
Q

Salinisation

A

Water evaporates on surface.
Water moves upwards carrying dissolved minerals.
Water evaporates on surface.
Dissolved minerals remain.
Occurs in places where E>P, and irrigated places.

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15
Q

Leaching

A

Water moves down through soil thanks to gravity, bringing dissolved minerals with it. P>E.

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16
Q

Subsistence Farming

A

Provision of food by farmers for themselves, family or community. Human labour is great, technology rarely used. Susceptible to food shortages.

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17
Q

Cash Cropping

A

Growing food to sell.

18
Q

Commercial Farming

A

Large, profit-making scale, maximising yields per hectare. High technology and energy use. High levels of produciton.

19
Q

Extensive Farming

A

More land with lower density of planting, lower inputs and outputs.

20
Q

Intensive Farming

A

Uses more crops in the same area of land/land use is more intensive. high inputs and outputs. Animal feedlots.

21
Q

Pastoral Farming

A

Raising animals on grass on land that is not suitable for crops.

22
Q

Arable Farming

A

Growing crops on good land to feed humans or animals.

23
Q

Mixed Farming

A

Raises animals and crops. Animals to eat and to use dung to fertilise crops and increase soil’s structure. Crops feed animlas and humans.

24
Q

Agribuisness

A

Business of agricultural production including farming, seed supply, breeding, chemical for agriculture, machinery, food harvesting, distribution, process and storage.

25
Q

Malnutrition

A

Nutritional intake is bad.
lacking - under nourishment
Excessive - over nourishment
Unbalanced - wrong proportions of micro-nutrients.

26
Q

Causes of Food Imbalance

A

Ecological - climate, severe weather, soil degradation, declining biodiversity.
Economic - lack of food due to more money through exports, or too expensive to grow.
Socio-politcal - globalisation - supports imports to MEDCs, lack of monitoring and deploying food relief, disagreements over transboundary issues.

27
Q

Factors influencing Crop/Livestock Choices

A

Climate - what food can grow where, overcome with technology.
Cultural and Religious - Some peoples don’t eat certain foods. Food choice varies.
Political - tariffs or subsidies on foods.
Socio-Economic - Cost of food influences supply and demand.

28
Q

Livestock

A

Animals raised to turn food not suitable for human consumption into food suitable for human consumption.

29
Q

Crops

A

Plants are sowed onto arable land. Harvesting removes biomass. Growing crops may degrade the soil, crop rotations can minimise this effect.

30
Q

Efficiency of a Farming System

A

Energy contained within the crop harvested per unit area of land required. Joules per gram. If it is <1, inputs<outputs.

31
Q

Extensive Farming

A

Limited selective breeding.
No genetic engineering.
Polyculture.
Little effect on biodiversity.
Little soil erosion.

32
Q

Intensive Farming

A

Strong selective breeding.
Genetically engineered organisms.
Monoculture.
Reduction in Biodiversity.
Strong Soil Erosion.

33
Q

How to Improve Sustainability of Food Production Systems

A

Maximise Yield - improved technology, alter what we grow (GMF), recycle nutrients and energy on a farm (Green Revolution).
Reduce Food Waster - LEDCs: Improve production and storage. MEDCs: Improve consumption rates.
Reduce Food processing, Packaging and Transport -
Changing Attitudes - eat different, less mea more insects.
Monitoring and Control - IGOs, GO, MN and N FC, I, NGOs to reduce unsustainable farming.

34
Q

Overgrazing

A

Too many animals graze in the same land. Roots can no longer hold together soil. Soil is removed from the land through wind and rain.

35
Q

Overcropping

A

Depleted soil nutrients, reduces soil fertility. Friable soil, dry and susceptible to wind erosion.

36
Q

Deforestation

A

Removal of forest allows soil to be more easily eroded by wind and rain, less roots and cover.

37
Q

Urbanisation

A

Impermeable surface, increasing run-off, may erode other places. Cities encroach on agricultural land.

38
Q

Unsuitable Agricultural Techniques

A

Total removal of crops after harvest.
Growing crops in rows.
plowing in the direction of the slope.
irrigation, leaching.
Monoculutres.

39
Q

Soil Erosion

A

Sheet wash - large areas of soil washed away by water, landslides.
Gullying - channels on hillsides develop allowing soil to be washed away more easily.
Wind Erosion - Drier soils, high winds remove surface layer.

40
Q

Desertification

A

The process of arable land losing productivity, nutrients change, soil loss, and forming a desert.

41
Q

Peat Soil

A

water logged, oxygen deficient, high acidity, nutrient deficient.

42
Q

Terrestrial VS Aquatic

A

Terrestrial: Consume lower trophic level. Less efficient.
Aquatic: Consume higher trophic level, higher efficiency.

ESS Notes (11 decks)

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