Unit 2- Historical Agriculture

Question 1

6th Mass extinction:

Answer 1

• Currently ongoing, result of human impact
• Happening more rapidly than the previous “Big Five” mass extinctions
• Humans have been hunting and out-competing species into extinction for thousands of years
• Human arrival on islands and continents is usually followed by wave of extinctions
Rate of species extinction projected to increase tenfold or more in future decades

Question 2

Red List:

Answer 2

• Regularly updated list created by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) of species facing high risks of extinction
Threatened species contain Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable

Question 3

Living Planet Index:

Answer 3

• Summarizes trends in different populations of species
• Population sizes are declining due to shrinking of geographical area
i.e. Living Planet Index fell by 30%, monitored populations are 30% smaller than before

Question 4

Beringia:

Answer 4

• Land bridge between Siberia and Alaska formed when vast amounts of ocean water was converted to land via glaciation that allowed humans to reach North America
• Allowed for humans to live on virtually any land
Survival involved movement and migration

Question 5

Fertile Crescent:

Answer 5

• Region of grassland in the Middle East
• Allowed for successful transition to agriculture- lots of wild animals (pre-domesticated cattle, sheep..etc)
• Vast areas of wild wheat and barley
Spread of agriculture slower in other areas because forests needed to be cleared first

Question 6

Domestication:

Answer 6

• Controlling the genetics of a plant or animal population by the planned selection of plant seeds and animals parents
• Process whereby animals and plants are changed so as to better suit the needs of humans
First animal likely to have been domesticated is the wolf/dog (can assist in tracking, herding, guarding)

Question 7

Emergence of the Anthropocene:

Answer 7

• Term used to characterize the degree and extent of environmental change caused directly and indirectly by human activity
• Anthropo- man/human
• Cene- new
Identifies geologically significant conditions that are affected by human activity such as erosion and sediment transport associated with agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization, changes in chemical composition of the atmosphere, oceans and soils, and species extinctions