Land Cover Chanage Flashcards
Types of Biomes
Natural Biome
Anthropogenic Biome
Natural Biome
biomes that have not had sustained direct human interactions
Anthropogenic Biome
biomes resulting from sustained human interactions with biome
Biomes
A community of life forms adapted to a large natural area
Land Cover Change Processes
Deforestation
Mining
Urbanisation
Expansion and Intensification of Agriculture
Deforestation
Deforestation is clearing forests for other uses, such as agriculture and urban development.
Borneo - cleared forests in the 1980s going to japan, USA and Malaysia for paper pulp, timber furniture. Now oil palm and timber plantations.
Mining
Extraction of minerals from the Earth
Minerals Council of Australia estimates 0.02% of Australia’s land surface is directly impacted by mining.
Urbanisation
the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities.
2020 56% world’s population lived in urban areas, a proportion expected to increase to 68% by 2050.
The Expansion and intensification of Agriculture
Expansion - the increasing amount of land available for agriculture
Intensification - increase in the output of existing agricultural areas
Green Revolution - LDC adopting new tech improve output (mechanical and chemical) Brazil experienced 574% increase in cereal output between 1961 to 2001 resulting in adopting improved technology
Factors that account for differences in land cover change
Government Policies
Type of Economy
Land Ownership
Culture Ideology
Government Policies - Australia
Strict in terms of rehabilitation
WA forest management plan 2024 -2033 restrictions on forestry preserving around 400000 hectares of forests (not preventing clearing for mining)
Type of Economy - Australia
12% of Australia’s exports were from Agriculture 2020 - 2021 - 55% of land use
Mining account for 0.6% of land use, contributes $300 B to Australia’s economy
Throughout Australia, opportunities for further land clearing are severely limited by state and federal governments.
Culture and Ideology - Australia
Australia’s society values its natural environment and outdoor lifestyle
Australia’s love of the beach has resulted in urban sprawl and land clearing along the coast, with more than 85% of Australians living within 50km of the ocean
Government Policies - Brazil
Built the Trans-Amazonian highway to allow easier access to parts of the Amazon
Between 1978 and 1988, an average of over 20 000 square kilometres was cut down each year
Government policy changes have seen a decline of 83% in the rate of deforestation between 2004 and 2014 implementation of the forest code, which stated only 20% of farmland could be cleared, and the rest must be protected
Type of Economy - Brazil
31% of Brazil is dedicated to Agriculture (namely soybean, beef and sugar), the sector being responsible for 21% of employment
It has grown to this statistic (top 10 highest GDP) via exploitation of natural resources without strict laws protecting land degradation rehabilitation
Brazil has 3.7 million square kilometres of protected land, but it is under pressure to utilise it and continue economic growth
