Land Cover UNIT 3 AOS 2

Question 1

What is meant by land cover?

Answer 1

The observed biophysical cover on the earth. Biophysical elements include vegetation, water, soil, agriculture, urban landscapes.

Question 2

What is the difference between land cover and land use?

Answer 2

Land Cover is what exists on the surface WHEREAS land use is how people make use of the land to produce, change and maintain it

Question 3

When was the last glacial maximum?

Answer 3

21,500 years ago

Question 4

When was the last deglaciation?

Answer 4

20,000 years ago, the most rapid melting occured 15,000 years ago however.

Question 5

What happened during the last deglaciation?

Answer 5

• Ice melted
• Sea level rose
• Forest and grassland spread
• Agriculture developed (clearing old natural vegetation cover in west Asia, Europe and the Americas)

Question 6

What has been the impact of the temperature changes on land cover?

Answer 6

• More open water bodies, artificial surfaces in associated areas, more cultivated and managed, aquatic cultivation
• Less ice and snow

Question 7

What was the Holocene Climate Optimum?

Answer 7

The Holocene Climate Optimum (HCO) was a warm period during roughly the interval 9,000 to 5,000 years BP.

Question 8

Why has the earth’s temperature changed over the last 20,000 years?

Answer 8

The rate at which energy is received from the Sun and the rate at which it is lost to space determine the equilibrium temperature and climate of Earth has changed.

Question 9

Define process?

Answer 9

A series of ongoing events or steps that lead to the development, change or preservation of something

Question 10

How do fires change land cover?

Answer 10

Fires promote the growth of new shrubs/grasslands

Question 11

How do government policies effect land cover?

Answer 11

• selective logging is promoted
• zoning (protects land cover)
• policies aim to restore land cover from invading species

Question 12

what are the 8 categories of land cover?

Answer 12

1. Cultivated and managed land
2. Natural and semi-natural vegetation
3. Cultivated aquatic or regularly flooded areas
4. Natural and semi-natural aquatic land cover or regularly flooded vegetated areas
5. Artificial surfaces and associated areas
6. Bare areas
7. Artificial water bodies, snow and ice
8. Natural water bodies, snow and ice

Question 13

outline and explain 4 natural processes changing land cover

Answer 13

1. Climate change: change in atmospheric temperatures bring more/less snow
2. Geophysical changes: volcanic activity, earthquakes activity destroy farmland resulting in sparse vegetation
3. Plant succession: vegetation can adapt to changing weather patterns
4. Fires: promote development of grasslands and seed germination

Question 14

outline and explain 2 human processes changing land cover

Answer 14

1. Population dynamics: rapid population growth puts more pressure on the land, land is cleared for other purposes (housing)
2. Technology: clearing of forests (advanced machinery), change to an environment more rapidly at at a larger scale (building dams)