Unit 3 Ch11 in quizlet Flashcards
What is the Green Revolution?
A shift to new agricultural strategies and practices aimed at increasing food production, with both positive and negative results.
What is mechanization in agriculture?
The use of machinery in farming to increase profits and efficiency, which can also increase reliance on fossil fuels.
What are some environmental damages from agriculture?
Practices such as tiling, slash-and-burn farming, and the use of fertilizers that can harm the environment.
What is waterlogging?
Occurs when too much water is left in the soil, raising the groundwater table and inhibiting plants’ ability to absorb oxygen.
What is salinization?
The process where salts in groundwater remain in the soil after water evaporates, potentially making soil toxic to plants.
What are common pest control methods?
Common methods include pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and insecticides that can lead to pest resistance.
What are genetically engineered crops?
Crops modified to increase resistance to pests and diseases, which can lead to loss of genetic diversity.
What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?
A combination of methods used to control pest species while minimizing environmental disruption.
What are the benefits of IPM?
Reduces risks that pesticides pose to wildlife, water supplies, and human health.
What are the drawbacks of IPM?
Can be complex and expensive to implement.
What is soil conservation?
Practices aimed at preventing soil erosion, including contour plowing, windbreaks, and no-till agriculture.
How can soil fertility be improved?
Methods such as crop rotation and the addition of green manure and limestone.
What is rotational grazing?
The regular rotation of livestock between pastures to avoid overgrazing.
What is overfishing?
The depletion of fish species leading to reduced biodiversity and negative impacts on communities dependent on fishing.
What is aquaculture?
The practice of farming aquatic organisms, which is efficient but can lead to wastewater contamination and disease transmission.
What are Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?
Methods of meat production that involve high-density animal farming.
What is free-range grazing?
A method of meat production where animals are allowed to roam freely rather than being confined.
What is the efficiency of meat production?
It takes approximately 20x more land to produce the same amount of calories from meat as from plants.
What are the benefits of less meat consumption?
Could reduce CO2, methane, and N2O emissions; conserve water; reduce the use of antibiotics and growth hormones; and improve soil.
What was the impact of the Green Revolution?
Brought new technologies to agriculture in the 1960s, drastically increasing yields worldwide.
What is irrigation?
Can significantly increase yields and has allowed us to grow crops where they could not otherwise be grown.
What percentage of the world’s agriculture is irrigated?
While only 16% of the world’s agriculture is irrigated, that land produces 40% of the world’s food.
What are agrochemicals?
Includes synthetic fertilizers and pesticides introduced during the Green Revolution.
What are high-yield crop varieties?
Disease-resistant crop varieties developed during the Green Revolution.
What are the environmental externalities of irrigation?
Irrigation can deplete groundwater, reduce the size of bodies of water, and can contribute to soil degradation.
What is eutrophication?
Can be caused by the overuse of any fertilizer (synthetic or organic).
What are pesticides?
Substances that kill or control organisms that people consider pests; can be organic or synthetic.
What is the pesticide treadmill?
The cycle of pesticide development, followed by evolution of pesticide resistance, followed by new pesticide development.
What is bioaccumulation?
The gradual build-up of substances, such as pesticides, in the fatty tissues of an organism.
What is biomagnification?
Increases in the concentration of a toxin, such as pesticides, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.
What is soil compaction?
Loss of pore space in soil, which can increase due to mechanization.
What is conservation tillage?
Reduced-till or no-till practices that help in soil conservation.
What is contour plowing?
A method that reduces water erosion and runoff.
What are windbreaks?
Planting perimeter trees that reduce wind erosion.
What are perennial crops?
Crops that increase soil stability.
What is intercropping?
A practice in which two or more crop species are planted in the same field at the same time to reduce competition and promote beneficial interactions.
What is agroforestry?
Intercropping trees with vegetables to act as wind breaks and reduce erosion.
What is crop rotation?
Reduces pest problems and nutrient depletion by rotating the crop species in a field from season to season.
What are monocultures?
Can attract large pest populations, particularly when the same crop is planted year after year.
What is shifting agriculture?
Involves clearing land, using it for a few years, and then allowing the soil to recover.
What is organic agriculture?
Production of crops without the use of synthetic agrochemicals or GMOs.
What are organic fertilizers?
Rich in organic matter, providing a slow, sustained release of nutrients and helping the soil hold onto those nutrients.
What is the production of organic fertilizers?
Can be produced from ‘waste’ (compost, manure).
What is the runoff susceptibility of organic fertilizers?
Typically less susceptible to runoff and/or volatilization.
What are synthetic fertilizers?
Provide a concentrated source of nutrients that are immediately available for uptake.
What is the GHG intensity of synthetic fertilizers?
Incredibly GHG-intensive to produce and can result in large N2O emissions when applied.
What is a genetically modified organism (GMO)?
An organism or microorganism whose genetic material has been altered by means of genetic engineering.
What are the pros of GMOs?
Can create strains of organisms that are resistant to harsh environmental conditions and produce essential nutrients for humans.
What are the cons of GMOs?
Some GMOs are engineered to allow farmers to use pesticides more aggressively.
What is the impact of GMOs on biodiversity?
Can significantly reduce agricultural biodiversity and can reduce biodiversity of surrounding native plants.
What is integrated pest management (IPM)?
A variety of techniques designed to minimize pesticide inputs.
What are the benefits of IPM?
IPM can simultaneously reduce inputs and increase outputs.
What are Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?
Large indoor or outdoor structures designed for maximum output of animal products.
What are the ethical concerns of CAFOs?
Ethical concerns over animal treatment and antibiotic overuse.
What is a fishery?
A commercially harvestable population of fish within a particular ecological region.
What is fishery collapse?
A decline of a fish population by 90% or more.
What are Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs)?
Fishery managers establish a total allowable catch and distribute or sell quotas to individual fishers or fishing companies.
What is a sustainable fishery?
Means no fishing until populations recover.
What is the impact of large-scale fishing?
Can adversely affect both target and non-target species and is the single largest source of plastics in the ocean.
What is aquaculture pollution?
Waste-water from aquaculture pollutes waterways and escaped ‘farmed fish’ can decimate wild fish populations.
