Rural Environments 5.3 The Impacts of Ecosystem Exploitation

Question 1

what are the different types of farming? (5)

Answer 1

• subsistence farming
• commercial farming
• arable farming
• pastoral farming
• Intensive or Extensive farming

Question 2

the effects on ecosystems from subsistence farming vs. commercial farming (2)

Answer 2

• except in areas of overpopulation, the impact of subsistence farming on the ecosystem isn’t terrible
• however, whole ecosystems are destroyed by commercial farming due to its scale and its powerful technologies such as mechanisation, irrigation and pest controls

Question 3

the effects on ecosystems from arable farming vs. pastoral farming (2)

Answer 3

• both types involve ecosystem clearance and change

- however, farmland can feed more people than the same area used for rearing livestock

Question 4

the effects on ecosystems from intensive vs. extensive farming (3)

Answer 4

• both can be highly destructive
• intensive farming involves such a concentration of inputs that artificial ecosystems are created (glasshouses)
• extensive farming uses large areas (prairie farming in USA)

Question 5

arable farming

Answer 5

a form of agriculture which concentrates on the growing of plant crops

Question 6

pastoral farming

Answer 6

the rearing of livestock for meat or other products such as milk and wool

Question 7

subsistence farming

Answer 7

production of items to meet the food and living needs of the farmers and their families

Question 8

extensive farming (3)

Answer 8

• agriculture with low inputs of capital and labour
• associated with areas where land is cheap and plentiful
• usually low yields per hectare

Question 9

intensive farming (2)

Answer 9

• higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area
• produces both crop plants and animals

Question 10

commercial farming

Answer 10

farming that is set up with the sole purpose of producing crops and livestock for sale, with the sole intention of making profit

Question 11

for what purposes are rainforests being cleared? (3)

Answer 11

• pasture for cattle rearing
• arable land for growing biofuels
• building land for settlements and roads

Question 12

Why could it be said that roads are the tropical rainforests worst enemy? (3)

Answer 12

• roads are needed to bring equipment and transport products to market
• but building new roads means cutting through the rainforest
• the problem is that once the roads have been built, the forest becomes accessible to other commercial activities (mining of gold, damming of rivers)

Question 13

shifting cultivation

Answer 13

agricultural system used by many indigenous people in rainforest , in which a plot of land is cleared and crops are grown until the soil is exhausted, then the plot is deserted until the soil regains its fertility

Question 14

concequences of deforestation (7)

Answer 14

• loss of biodiversity
• land degradation
• erosion
• global warming
• localised climate change
• displacement of indigenous people
• pollution of rivers