Gold Unit 6 Flashcards
Explain three ways to use forests more sustainably that emphasize their ecological services
Flood control
Strip Cutting
No fragmentation, we don’t want to break up the forest, we want to cut in a line and not disturb the ecosystems as much as possible
Leave dead stuff
(Decompose and continue the nutrient cycle and will provide habitats
Leave Old growth forest alone because we have a lot of land we are already using for timber (Old growth has a lot more biodiversity than other forest)
Explain why a farmer would rotate corn crops with soybean or alfalfa crops
Corn uses a lot of nitrogen legumes like soybeans replace the nitrogen and allow you to use less fertilizer, keep the land covered with vegetation to reduce erosion
Less affected by corn pests and disease, reducing pressure on corn
Explain the ecosystem services that rivers provide
Distribution of nutrients
Purifying water
Drinking water
Transportation
Habitats
Recreation
What is the lesson from the Aral Sea disaster
The sea almost ran dry due to diverting the water for mas irrigation
Everything in nature is connected and you can’t do something in one place without it affecting another
Compare and contrast the flood irrigation method to the drip irrigation method
Flood Irrigation
“Farmers flow water down small trenches running through their crops.”
-Large-scale
-Less conservative with water usage
-Cheapest
-Best for environment that needs quick and extensive watering
Drip irrigation
Precise, delivery to individual plants
Conserves more water,
Better for moisture sensitive crops
-Expensive
More efficient
Explain why mountaintop removal causes more environmental damage than most other forms of mining
Mountaintop removal process
- Blast mountaintops
- Broken mountaintop is then shifted into valleys and fills below
- They collect the ore (Ore can be retrieved 400 feet or deeper)
- Leave flat terrain (plant non-native species of grass or other vegetation) (hydroseeding
More negative b/c
-Coal deposits, shuve everything but the coal of the side of the mountain, destroying The vegetation on the side (causes more erosion and habitat loss)
-Change to river flow, toxics are then put into the water and carried to next habitat (further down stream)
Explain what full-cost pricing is
Full-cost Pricing
Considering both the direct and indirect cost of purchasing a product
Direct (materials labor maintenance)
Indirect ( Cost of pollution made by the product when you wash the shirt, Enviornmental effects
Describe elements of Smart Growth
Smart Growth
Developing as efficiently and environmentally friendly as possible
Mixed use zoning (Have homes and shops in the same area)
Mixed income housing (Have a variety of priced living courters so a variety of incomes can afford the area)
Near a mass transit hob (Reduces carbon dixoied emmissions)
