Agrarian Landscapes Flashcards
Open field system?
There are no visible boundaries between the fields, commonly found in flat areas, plots are medium or larged sized. Commonly found in Spanish cereal farms.
Closed field system
Walls or forestry separating them, common in northern Spain with areas containing livestock.
Smallholdings (Minifundio)
Plots less than 10 hectares, mechinization is unprofitable, common in subsistence economies, excess division of land into plot.
Large plot (Latifundio)
More than 100 hectares of land.
Land ownership
Collectively owned or common land
Privately owned
Tenure
Sharecropping
System owner provides land and other elements owner and tenant share benefits depending on their contributions
Agriculture
Type of farming practiced in a place and the technology used to tell us how integrated it is in the global market.
Monoculture farms
SIngle crop is produced, system is developed and requires high levels of investement, they produce low yields.
Polyculture farms
Various crops are grown. Some have low yields like family run farms others have high yields like market gardens or orchards.
Dry crops
Watered by rainfall
Irrigated crops
Need additional water, transported and distributed using technology.
Intensive agriculture
Farms use all available space, normally irrigated farming, if farms invest in tech the yield is high. If they produce more than one crop a year withought tech or fertilized soil, poor yield.
Extensive agriculture
Larger farms, dont use all available space, less productive, associated with dry crops.
Factors that affect farming
Physical factors: climate, landscape and relief (altitude gradient and aspect)
Human factors: Population, farming techniques, use of production, globalization, agricultural policies, enviornmental policies.
How climate affects agriculture
Some crops grow better in one climate zone than another, cannot grow above 45º or below 10º cannot grow with less than 250mm of rainfall 500mm in tropic areas type of precipitation also matters.
How landscape/relief affects agriculture
Relief influences agricultural activity, high altitude limits species development, gradients above 10º make it almost impossible to cultivate, adret and urbac slopes.
How soil affects agriculture
Grain size and porosity affects amount of oxygen the soil contains and its ability to retain water, chemical and biological components of soil
How population affects agriculture
Smaller areas of cultivation and competition for land
How farming techniques affect agriculture
Modern techniques in MEDC´s and traditional techniques in LEDC´s
How the use of production affects agriculture
Subsistence farming: farms cultivate all they can, production intended for their consumption
Commercial farming: often specializes in one cropt, production fore sale
How globalization impacts agriculture
Countries can sell their products to other countries, producers must compete for quality and size, intensive
How agricultural policies impact agriculture
Government influences agriculture with agriculture reform laws
Agrarian Landscapes in Spain
Atlantic or oceanic landscape
Coastal Mediterranean Landscape
Inner Mediterranean Landscape
Subtropical Landscape
Atlantic or oceanic landscapes location
North and north-west of Spain, Coruña, pontevedra, lugo, asturias, cantabria, part of orense, Vizcaya,Guipúzcoa, Part of navarra and huesca and parts of leon.
Atlantic or oceanic landscape characteristics
Wet, green and mountainous, moderate temperatures aboundace of rainfall all year round, irrigation unnessary.
Smallholdings are common
Intensive polyculture is most common.
Most regular crops grown are corn, vegetables, fruit and bean crops.
Analysis of an atlantic landscape
Type of plot: bocage
smallholdings
intensive, dry agriculture
area is good for fodder
polyculture
corn, potatoes, barley, forage
Habitat: dispersed
Subtropical landscape location
The canary Islands
Subtropical landscape characteristics
Agriculture is costly due to exports and terrasing, soil favours commercial agriculture. Settlement is dispersed, smallholdings are typical. Bananas´s, potatoes, sugar cane, tobacco, cotton are commonly produced. Subsistence polyculture. Investement in advanced tech to ensure high yields in dry areas
Subtropical landscape analysis
Type of plot: terracing
system of cultivation: intensive, irrigated agriculture, greenhouse, high yields
Polyculture, banana, tomatoes, kiwi, pineapple, vineyards
Habitat: concentrated
Coastal Mediterranean landscape location
Southern and Eastern coasts and the baleric Islands. Cadiz, part of Badajoz, most of Huelva and sevilla, parts of cordoba and jaen and the coast of malaga, granada, valencia, castellon, alicante, almeria, murcia, tarragona, barcelona and girona.
Coastal med landscape characteristics
Mediterranean climate, mild temps, little rainfall ocasional torrential rainfall. Dry crops, rye, grapevine, olives and almonds. Irrigation systems are essential. Smallholdings are typical. Citrus, strawberry and vegetable crops are profitable.
Costal med landscape analysis
Type of plot: open field and med orchard, smallholdings
Intensive agriculture, irrigated agriculture, high yields
Polyculture, dry agriculture, monoculture
concentrated
Inner med landscape location
Medium altitudes, everywhere else
Inner med landscape characteristics
Med climate, farms are extensive, irrigation is used primarily along river banks. Navarra and La Rioja have many vineyards. Extremadura forestry, livestock farming, Aragon, extensive livestock farming and cereal crops.
Inner med landscape analysis
Type of plot: open field, large plots
Extensive, dry agriculture, low yields
Mediterranean trilogy: wheat, vineyards and olives
irrigated agriculture: sunflowers, cotton and sugar beet
Habitat: concentrated
