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Agriculture Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the key principles of agriculture?

A

Selection of species, control of abiotic and biotic factors and manipulation of the food species to improve productivity

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2
Q

What factors affect the choice of species for farming?

A

Market demand and access, within range of tolerance for the food species, if the environmental conditions can be controlled

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3
Q

What effect can temperature have on agriculture?

A

Frost-free period, thermoregulation(livestock), impact on evapotranspiration, biochemical reactions, length of thermal growth season

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4
Q

How is the temperature controlled in open fields?

A

Burning gas, oil and candles or by dispersing cold air with large fans, transparent woven plastic cloth and livestock can be kept warm by providing shelter or buildings, low lying areas (more likely to frost), south-facing slopes

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5
Q

How does light impact agriculture?

A

Rate of photosynthesis, wavelengths for different pigments and photoperiodism (day length)

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6
Q

How does photoperiodism affect livestock?

A

Poultry grow best with short days while egg production is greatest on longer days, long day length increases milk production and some livestock such as sheep mate when days are getting shorter in the autumn, with the lambs being born in the spring

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7
Q

What plants are affected by photoperiodism?

A

Oats require longer days for optimum growth, whereas maize requires shorter days for growth

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8
Q

How can light levels be controlled artificially?

A

Artificial lighting can be used to extend the growing period or encourage mating

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9
Q

How does water affect agriculture?

A

Gas exchange, physiological functions, nutrient absorption, turgidity, transport medium and replacing transpiration after losses

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10
Q

How can water supply affect crops?

A

Most rice varieties must be flooded during early growth, some cereal crops have low water requirement e.g. wheat, irregular water supply can cause crops to expand and split ad humid conditions can increase fungal diseases

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11
Q

What qualities of water can affect their growth?

A

Reliability, quality, high salt content, amount and heavy metals

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12
Q

What methods are used to reduce water levels in soil?

A

Deep ploughing, avoidance of soil compaction by machinery or livestock, excavation of drainage ditches and provide conditions to encourage worms

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13
Q

What are some of the issues caused by water shortages?

A

Livestock in semi-arid areas may die and may increase trampling if animals regularly have to walk longer distances, crops will close stomata to reduce water loss, but this limits photosynthesis

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14
Q

What methods can be used to increase water availability?

A

Crop irrigation, soil mulching to reduce evaporation losses, provision of suitable conditions for worms, reducing soil compaction and adding soil organic matter to increase water retentions and buffer strips

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15
Q

What are riparian buffer strips?

A

Buffer strips near water courses

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16
Q

What’s the difference between macronutrients and micronutrients?

A

Macro nutrients are need in much larger quantities

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17
Q

How does crop rotation affect nutrient availability?

A

Gives time for weathering to release more nutrients and to even out the demands for particular nutrients by different crops

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18
Q

What are some examples of organic fertilisers?

A

Faecal material, animal old production wastes and plant food production wastes

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19
Q

What are the advantages of inorganic and organic fertilisers?

A

Inorganic: Nutrient composition controlled to meet specific requirements, released rapidly
Organic: locally available, increase soil humus content and soil biota populations

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20
Q

What are the disadvantages of inorganic and organic nutrients?

A

Inorganic: Some require large amounts of energy in manufacture, do not add organic matter, some toxic to worms, some have high solubility and may leach, raw materials limited
Organic: Nutrient composition cannot be controlled, released slowly so must be used for long-term cultivation plan, expensive transport and they usually cannot be added to a growing crop

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21
Q

How are fertilisers applied?

A

A crop rotation cycle will add manure to the soil and mechanical application

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22
Q

What are green manures?

A

Crops grown specifically for building and maintaining soil fertility and structure

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23
Q

What is hydroponics?

A

Growth of crops in a nutrient solution rather than a solid growth medium, typically carried out in a greenhouse in an intensive system

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24
Q

What are the advantages of hydroponics?

A

Nutrient supply is optimal so not a limiting factor for growth, no soil to hold pathogens, no weeds, still has roots so stays fresher for longer, attractive to consumers

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25
Q

What are the disadvantages of hydroponics?

A

Intensive so high input of nutrients and energy and high level of ten chin cal knowledge needed

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26
Q

How is aeration naturally balanced?

A

Gravity causes compaction of the soil and this is counteracted by tunnelling action of detritivores

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27
Q

What increases soil compaction?

A

Weight fo farming machinery, livestock trampling, reduction in organic matter contents, shallower roots has less penetration so more compaction, ploughing can kill soil organisms

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28
Q

What can increase aeration?

A

Ploughing, adding organic matter, low tillage methods and removal of livestock

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29
Q

How can emoted form soil and what are the potential problems with this?

A

Extra water can be used to wash the salts out of the soil but this gently increases the water consumption and can cause ecological problems by increasing the salinity of the local river

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30
Q

What are the dangers of high and low pH?

A

High can inhibit nutrient solubility and low can increase the leaching of nutrients and inhibit nutrient uptake, it can also mobilise toxic ions such as aluminium an lead

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31
Q

How can pH of soil be increased?

A

Adding crushed lime and spreading powdered sulphur

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32
Q

How can topography affect agriculture?

A

Aspect, frost pockets, runoff rate and use of machinery

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33
Q

How can aspect affect topography?

A

Undulations e.g. valleys, produce some areas which are more exposed to sunlight

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34
Q

How do frost pockets affect topography?

A

Cold dense air tends to collect in low-lying areas, making crop frost damage more likely

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35
Q

How is the use of machinery affected by topography?

A

May be difficult to operates land that unrelated a lot or where gradients are very steep

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36
Q

How is topography controlled?

A

Terracing to create flat fields to retain irrigation water and reduce soil erosion, areas that are nearly flat may be levelled by machinery

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37
Q

How are livestock affected by altitude?

A

Cattle don’t thrive because the low atmospheric pressure causes ‘high altitude disease’, where pulmonary artery thicken

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38
Q

How are crops affected by altitude?

A

Temperatures are often colder at high latitudes, the low atmospheric pressure may increase the evaporations rates

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39
Q

What problems can wind velocity cause?

A

Increased evaporation rates and the drying of solid, crop damage and increased soil erosions

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40
Q

What are some examples of pests?

A

Insects, mites, nematodes, slugs/snails, rodents, birds and mammals

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41
Q

How do pests harm plants?

A

Eat the crop or livestock, reduce marketability for example spoiling view, be or carry pathogens that cause disease and compete for resources such as water or nutrients

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42
Q

What are endemic pests?

A

Always present, usually in small or moderate numbers

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43
Q

What are epidemic pests?

A

Not normally present but there may be ‘outbreaks’ where rapidly become a major problem

44
Q

What are epidemic pests?

A

Not normally present but there may be ‘outbreaks’ where rapidly become a major problem

45
Q

What is cultural pest control?

A

Cultural pest control involves non-pesticide methods where crops or livestock are cultivated in a way that reduces the risk

46
Q

What are the benefits of crop rotation?

A

Maintain nutrient levels or allow them to recover as well as stopping the pests from returning early in the season and allowing them to build populations

47
Q

What’s an example of companion crops?

A

Alyssum can attract wasps ad hoverflies which eat black fly high can destroy crops

48
Q

What are barrier crops?

A

Crops that deter to prevent pests e.g. the smell of onions can mask the smell of carrots

49
Q

How can predator habitats help pest control?

A

Populations of natural pest predators can be increased by providing suitable habitats, beetle banks and hedgerows give hibernation and food supply to pest predators such as lady bugs and black ground beetles that eat aphids

50
Q

What is a successful example of biological corridors?

A

Prickly Pear cactus as introduced from South America to Australia where it had no predators and spread rapidly over large areas of farmland, it was controlled by introducing the Cactoblastis moth from South America, they are both now rare

51
Q

What is an unsuccessful example of biological corridor use?

A

Cane toads were introduce to Australia to control beetle pests of sugar cane but they have eaten a wide range of other species, they are toxic so they have few predators and have colonised a huge area

52
Q

How does sterile male techniques help pest control?

A

In many insect species, the females only mate once then store sperm for all future egg laying, if a female mates with a sterile male hen she will never produce any offspring

53
Q

How are male pests sterilised?

A

Exposing them to gamma radiation

54
Q

What are some disadvantages fo male sterilisation?

A

Only successful if the sterilised males behave normally and succeed in finding mates, may later mating behaviour so mating won’t happen, re-colonisation from nearby areas that have not been cleared may require regular re-treatment

55
Q

What are some methods of pest control?

A

Pheromone traps, male sterilisation, pesticides, introduction of predator species, barrier crops

56
Q

How can pheromone traps be helpful?

A

Show that the pest is present so that pesticides can be used to protect the crop, kills all the pest individuals of one gender to slow the matings

57
Q

What are some organisms that have been selectively bred?

A

Chickens, cattle, pigs and sheep
Broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage all come from the wild mustard plant

58
Q

How are pesticides impacted by the mode of action?

A

Contact pesticides harm tissue or insets they come into contact with and can be washed off by the rain and limits human exposure
Systemic pesticides are trans located through the plant to protect from pests that ingest the plant

59
Q

How are antibiotics used in agriculture?

A

Prevent infection, treat infections and promote growth
Antibiotics reduce the population of non-pathogenic gut bacteria, this can increase the amount of the animals food that is used for growth, therefore increasing productivity

60
Q

What is growth gross efficiency?

A

The ratio between growth rate and food consumption

61
Q

What’s the potential problem with antibiotic use?

A

Increases antibiotic resistant bacteria and some may be zoonoses, which cause disease if they are transferred to humans for example E.coli

62
Q

How do hormone pesticides harm insects?

A

Cause growth and development in a way that will cause death, some cause metamorphose into adult before they’re big enough, other prevent chitin skeleton formation

63
Q

What’s the benefit of hormone pesticide?

A

Low persistence and more specific

64
Q

What are the principals of integrated control?

A

Make the environment less suitable (maintaining habitats for indigenous predator), preventing build-up (crop-rotation), essential use only, non-pesticide techniques, cultivating species that are less likely to suffer

65
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction of plants?

A

Adv: high survival rate and predictable
Dis: no genetic variation so no improvement and fewer offspring

66
Q

What are the potential benefits of cloning in agriculture?

A

Valuable animals can be replaced, herds that are culled during a disease outbreak can e replaced and large numbers of individuals with desirable characteristics can be produced

67
Q

How has the highland cow been selectively bred?

A

Even temper, few stress problem and hardy

68
Q

What are the benefits of cross breeding?

A

May produce a combination of desirable characteristics with ‘hybrid vigour’ and a lower risk of inbreeding

69
Q

What’s an example of cross breeding in agriculture?

A

Zebu cattle tolerate heat but little milk yield an Ayrshire cattle give high yield but little heat tolerance, cross breeding has created a hybrid vigour

70
Q

What is genetic modification beneficial?

A

Allows the introduction of a single characteristic from one species to another, or between varieties or breeds of the same species

71
Q

Why had GM not become commercially cultivated?

A

Environmental and human health concerns

72
Q

What are Bt crops?

A

Crops that have had the Bacillus thuringiensis gene transferred into them, this gene from the bacteria secretes a toxin to most insects so has protected crops such as corn, cotton and maize

73
Q

How has GM increased supplies of omega-3 fatty acids?

A

The gene for production has been transferred form marine algae into oil seed rape

74
Q

What are the advantages of GM?

A

Marketability, increased pathogen resistance, reduced need for pesticides, only move desirable characteristics, food security even though GCC, less land demand when density increases, longer growing season, increased gene pool, new foods and longer shelf life

75
Q

What are the disadvantages of GM?

A

Unknown impacts on human health, food chain transfer, lower fertility of offspring, social responsibility and ethics, triggered allergies, decrease local crop variety, public opposition, Bt can get into soil and decrease fertility and concerns in LEDCs that GM crops will reduce local indigenous crop diversity

76
Q

What is extensive agriculture?

A

Aims to maximise the total yield by spreading the available inputs over a large area of available land

77
Q

What is intensive agriculture?

A

Large inputs are available but there may be a shortage of land and it is labour intensive

78
Q

Where is energy used in agriculture?

A

Machinery (ploughers and tractors), labour, transportation, heating of barns, storage facilities

79
Q

What is the food conversion ratio?

A

A measure of the mass of food needed to produce a given mass of livestock growth, the lower the ratio, the better the conversion of food into animal biomass

80
Q

What are chemoautotrophs and what do they do?

A

Bacteria that harness energy by oxidising substances such as hydrogen sulphide, methane and ions of ammonium and nitrite

81
Q

What are the environmental impacts of agriculture?

A

Habitat clearance, wetland drainage, ploughing of grassland, reduced biodiversity, genetic contamination, soil degradation and erosion, pesticides, nutrient pollution, GHGs, unsustainable irrigation and changes in evapotranspiration

82
Q

What are some created habitats through agriculture?

A

Hedgerows, grazed moorlands, heathlands and hay meadows

83
Q

How are indigenous species impacted by agriculture?

A

Many will not be able to survive in the new conditions or will be eradicated because they ar predators or competitors

84
Q

How does nutrient enrichment impact agriculture?

A

Using fertilisers increases nutrient availability and plant growth rates, species that respond by growing taller e.g. grasses may outcompete smaller plants e.g. wildflowers

85
Q

how does agriculture release carbon dioxide?

A

Burning fossil fuels in machinery and aerobic conditions in the soil created leads to more aerobic respiration from organisms releasing CO2

86
Q

How does agriculture increase the release of nitrous oxides?

A

Nitrogen fertilisers lead to NO3 being released through evaporation and manure and urine releasing ammonia which can be oxidised into nitrite and then nitrate

87
Q

How does agriculture release methane?

A

Livestock intestines, rice paid fields and anaerobic digestion by microbes

88
Q

How is embodied energy impacting agriculture?

A

The manufacturer of materials, especially nitrate fertilisers, and machinery, usually involved he use fo many fossil fuels and causes the release of GHGs

89
Q

How does agriculture impact the hydrological cycle?

A

Soil erosion reduces effect of water retention and moderation of river flow, irrigation depletes sources, changing evapotranspiration (varies), soil compaction can increase runoff rates and cause more rapid fluctuation in river flow

90
Q

How does consumer choice influence agriculture?

A

Social factors, cultural factors, religious factors and ethical factors

91
Q

What economic factors can influence agriculture?

A

Subsidies, guaranteed prices and quotas

92
Q

What political factors can influence agriculture?

A

Trade controls, economic controls, subsidies, guaranteed prices and quotas

93
Q

What ethical issues may one consider that impacts agriculture?

A

Local food (food miles), seasonal eating, free-range livestock, organic food, fair trade

94
Q

How does technology impact agriculture?

A

Machinery and equipment for activities such as ploughing, sowing, spraying, harvesting, spreading agrochemicals and irrigation, pesticides, fertilisers, genetic improvements through breeding programmes, support infrastructure such as transport systems, refrigeration and food processing

95
Q

What technology is used for surveying?

A

GPS mapping and the use of drone and satellite technology

96
Q

What is survey technology used to measure?

A

Rates of photosynthesis, biomass estimation, spreading of pests and diseases, soil water content and cropped area of fields, area of cover for wild birds and tree plantations and other things

97
Q

When were agricultural grants put in place?

A

After the WW2 farmers couldn’t afford to invest in high productivity methods, grants were used for purchase of machinery, drainage of wetlands, liming to neutralise acidic soils, hedgerow removal, to increase field size and improve livestock

98
Q

What was guaranteed market?

A

Surplus food would be bought by the government so that demand would stay for farmers to make profit, some would be stored but fruits and veg would be destroyed, if there was a poor harvest, stored food would be sold to prevent price rise, when the food store got too high there was nothing to do with them as other countries had the same schemes and poorer countries couldn’t afford to pay and selling cheap would hurt farmers

99
Q

What methods were used for reducing food surpluses?

A

Quotas, alternative crops and livestock(biofuels/pharmaceuticals), farm diversification(new products and non-food productionbrecreationbspecialised airy production) and set-aside

100
Q

What are some strategies to increase agriculture sustainability?

A

Pest control, reduced use of chemical pesticides, reduced use of antibiotics, cultural pest control, integrated control, nutrient supplies natural processes, low tillage, waste management and management of social impacts

101
Q

How can methane emissions be controlled?

A

Feeding cattle high carbohydrate deists and grinding their food first reduces methane

102
Q

How is wildlife maintained by agriculture?

A

Maintaining natural and semi natural habitats e.g. hedgerows, ditches, ponds and woodlands, providing correct conditions for soil biota and reducing impacts of rural ecosystems and communities

103
Q

How is the gene pool of species protected?

A

Conservation of habitats to protect CWR and seed banks to conserve biodiversity

104
Q

What are the cultural pest control methods?

A

Crop-rotation, companion crops, predator habitats, biological control, sterile male techniques, pheromone traps, genetic resistance to disease and GM crops and pest control

105
Q

What biotic factors need to be controlled in agriculture?

A

Pest control, pollinators and maintenance of soil biota

Environmental Science (22 decks)

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