Lecture 28: Resource Cycle Flashcards
What are Renewable resources?
Those replenished by new growth each season, including food crops, wood, running, water, fisheries
What are Non-renewable resources?
Those replenished only on longer timescales, including most minerals, fossil fuels
What was the traditional view of resources?
Resources are limitless
What is the range of the effects of the waste on resources?
They can be benign or relatively harmless
What caused the increase use of resources?
The increase in human in population
What is the meaning of earth being a closed system?
Wastes and byproducts (pollution) returned from extraction, production, manufacturing, and consumption directly impact the human economy
How can we extend non-renewable resources?
Through conservation, reuse, recycling or substitution
What is the key to managing renewable resources?
To use them at a rate that does no exceed the replenishment rate
What do forests link?
The biosphere to the hydrosphere, geosphere and atmosphere
What do forests provide to as resources?
- Timber
- Fuel
- Latex
- Nuts
- Fruits
- Oils
What were the consequences of clearcutting?
Loss of root systems that hold soils together, causing widespread soil erosion, nutrient loss and accumulation of debris in adjacent streams and rivers
What are the modern strategies for harvesting forests?
- Cut blocks
* Selective harvesting
What is Cut blocks?
Small clear cut areas surrounded by forest
What is selective harvesting?
Where only trees of a certain maturity are removed and to a level that will prevent ecosystem damage
What are forest a major sink of?
Carbon sinks
Why are Tropical rain forests susceptible to the impacts of deforestation?
Because tropical soils are nutrient poor and experience greater erosional forces and the root system in tropical forests are shallow
What are the two methods of fisheries?
- Capture fisheries
* Aquaculture
What are Capture Fisheries?
Those in which fish are caught in the wild
What is Aquaculture?
Raising fish resources in captivity
What can capture fisheries lead to?
Overexploitation
What are the downside to Aquaculture?
Loss of natural coastal environments, requires considerable resources to run, can lead to the spread of disease in the fish population
What puts stress on fishery resources?
Overharvesting, pollution, and climate change
What can continued overuse of fishery resources lead to?
Commercial extinction
What lays on the cusp of renewable and non-renewable resource?
Soil
