Agriculture General Flashcards
What is the nitrogen cycle?
The nitrogen cycle is a natural process where nitrogen changes forms and moves between the air, land, and water
How does nitrogen change forms in the nitrogen cycle?
Nitrogen changes forms through living things (biological) and non-living things (physical) processes.
What are some important processes in the nitrogen cycle?
Fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification.
Why is nitrogen important for ecosystems?
Nitrogen helps plants grow and affects important ecosystem processes.
How do humans affect the nitrogen cycle?
Burning fossil fuels, using fertilizers, and releasing wastewater.
Why is nitrogen so important to plants?
Nitrogen is a very important plant nutrient, and plants need it in large amounts.
What is the carbon cycle?
The carbon cycle is how carbon moves between the Earth’s air, land, water, and living things.
Why is the carbon cycle important?
It’s one of the key things that makes Earth able to support life.
How does carbon move through the Earth?
It’s recycled and reused through living things and stored in places called carbon sinks.
What are carbon sinks?
Places that store carbon for a long time, like forests and oceans.
Define the role of invertebrates in decomposition.
Invertebrates facilitate decomposition by mechanically reducing organic matter through mastication.
Describe the process of organic matter breakdown by invertebrates.
Invertebrates with mouthparts fragment organic material, which is further processed within their digestive tracts.
Provide examples of invertebrate decomposers.
Worms and millipedes
Define the function of microbes in organic matter decomposition.
Microbes utilize extracellular enzymes to digest organic material.
Describe the enzymatic breakdown process.
Enzymes catalyze the breakdown of detritus into simpler components.
Explain the absorption of decomposed material by microbes.
Simple components are absorbed through the microbial cell wall.
Describe the final product of microbial decomposition.
Microbes convert organic molecules into inorganic forms, such as ammonium (NH₄⁺), which are available for plant uptake.
What does Water Management do?
Helps to manage pasture, crops, commercial orchards, gardens, and provide water for livestock
What does Flood and furrow irrigation do?
Allows water to be supplied to reasonably flat land where the soil is not very permeable to water
What are the advantages of spray irrigation?
Not dependent on soil and used for a wide range of surfaces
What are the disadvantages of spray irrigation?
High initial cost and longer labour hours
What is the main environmental issue caused by fertilizer runoff?
Eutrophication, which leads to excessive plant growth and oxygen depletion in water bodies.
How does eutrophication affect water quality?
It makes water unplantable and potentially poisonous to livestock.
Define eutrophication.
Excessive nutrients in a body of water, leading to dense plant growth, oxygen depletion, and death of aquatic life.
What are the main sources of nutrients that cause eutrophication?
Animal waste, fertilizers, and sewage runoff.
How do nitrates from fertilizers impact aquatic environments?
They increase toxic blue-green algal blooms and damage downstream ecosystems.
How can crop rotation help reduce fertilizer runoff?
Legumes fix nitrogen naturally, reducing reliance on inorganic fertilizers.
How can fertilizer runoff affect agriculture?
It makes water unsuitable for irrigation and increases farming costs.
Why is nitrogen fertilizer expensive?
Leached fertilizer is lost, making it unavailable to plants and increasing costs.
Why is it important to avoid excess fertilizer application?
To prevent nutrient runoff and minimize environmental damage.
How does ground cover help reduce fertilizer runoff?
It slows the movement of dissolved substances into waterways
What farming practice can reduce fertilizer runoff into waterways?
Adjusting the method of fertilizer application to minimize runoff.
