sustainability concepts Flashcards
1
Q
what is regenerative capacity?
A
the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb (human-made) waste and to provide resources
2
Q
what is carrying capacity?
A
the point at which population growth stops due to limited available resources
3
Q
3 pillars of sustainability? why not?
A
- environmental
- social (culturally accepted/embedded)
- economic (e.g. balancing revenues and costs)
–> everything is based on environmental sustainability (not exceeding earth’s boundaries)
4
Q
what is maximum sustainable yield?
A
harvesting during strongest recovery potential, e.g. during fast growing fish population phases
5
Q
3 GHGs associated with food production
A
- carbon dioxide (co2)
(deforestation, fossil fuels) - methane CH4 (rice cultivation, cattle)
- nitrous oxide n2O (handling, storage and use of manure)
6
Q
what is absorptive capacity?
A
the limit of waste that humans can produce before ecosystem can’t recover
7
Q
approaches to not exceed planetary boundaries
A
- discouraging use of finite raw resources
- promote use of renewable raw materials
- minimize emissions to air, water & soil
- maintain biodiversity & fish stocks
8
Q
how are scales interlinked?
A
growing complex interactions of food systems (on all 3 scales) e.g. animal and plant production
9
Q
how to decrease scale interlinks
A
- reconnecting plant and animal production on regional scale
- rethinking use of waste from cities for e.g. vertical farming systems -> connecting ecological principles with technology
10
Q
A
