Module 11 Flashcards
Slash-and-burn
An agricultural technique that involves the cutting and burning of plants on a forests or woodlands to create fields
Habitat fragmentation
Dividing large ecosystems into smaller, more isolated areas
Biological extinction
Occurs when a species is no longer found in any ecosystem on earth
Endangered species
Describes organisms whose population size has decreased to such a low level that they are at an extremen risk of becoming extinct
Threatened species
Describes organisms that could potentialllu become endangered in the future
U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973
Identifies and provides protection for organisms that are at risk for extinction
Convention of international trade in Endangered Species
Places bans on selling, hunting, or capturing threatened or endangered species
Bycatch
One result of overfishing practices
Long line fishing
Up to 80 miles of fishing line is strung out in the water with thousands of baited hooks then hauled in to catch swordfish, tuna, and shark.
Pure seine fishing
A net is used to surround a large school of fish then closed at the surface like a purse to haul in fish
Drift net fishing
A net is set to hang in the water from the surface to as far as 50 feet below the surface to catch fish
Trawler fishing
Large metal chain baskets, holding nets, are dragged across the ocean floor scouring the bottom for shrimp, scallops, and flounder
Whaling
Harvesting whales
Marine mammal protection act of 1972
Prohibits any United States citizen from harassing, hunting, or killing any marine animals.
Cultural eutrophication
An increase in water fertility due to anthropogenic inputs of nutrients
National wild & Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
Protects wild and scenic rivers from damming, widening, dredging, or filling
Old growth forest
A forest that has not been modified by human activities or natural disasters in 200 years or more
Secondary growth forest
A forest that forms from secondary succession
Tree plantations
Tree farm
Deforestation
Removes large tracts of forested land for fuel wood, agriculture, or urban development.
Clear cutting
A type of logging practice that removes all trees in one area at one time
Selective cutting
A type of logging practice that removes mature or intermediate-age trees selectively from forested areas that have an uneven age tree community
Strip cutting
A type of logging practice that involves removing an entire crop of trees along the contour of the land, in a narrow corridor, allowing for natural regeneration of the trees
Crown fire
A difficult to control forest fires
Healthy forest act
This act allows for timber companies to remove medium-size commercially valuable trees to thin forest at risk for fires
Rangelands
Wide-open, non-restricted areas for grazing by grass-eating and shrub-eating livestock.
Pastures
Fenced areas that are maintained by ranchers through planting of domesticated grasses or shrubs
Overgrazing
Occurs when the number of livestock animals exceeds the carrying capacity for that rangeland, thereby depleting the grass cover
Rotational grazing
A sustainable grazing method