Unit 5 Flashcards
Tradgety of the Commons
The tendency of a shared limited resource to become depleted if it is not regulated in some way
What are examples of commons?
Global fisheries, public land, atmosphere, oceans
Externalities
Costs which result from but are not directly included in, the purchase price of a good or service
Rangelands
Are dry, open grasslands primarily used for grazing cattle, and the most common use of land in the U.S.
Forests
Land areas dominated by trees and other woody vegetation, and can be used for commercial logging
Clear cutting
Involves removing all or almost all trees in the area (beneficial for economy but not environment)
Selective Cutting
Removes single trees or a relatively small percentage of tree at the time
Tree planatations
Areas that are planted with a single fast growing species for the purpose of logging
Endangered Species Act
Protects plants and animals
Subsistence farming
Farming for feeding primarily family
Green Revolution
The 3rd agriculture revolution that occurred in the 1920’s
Agribusiness
Modern from for growing food, using mechanization and standardization if food production
What were invocations of the Green revolution
Mechanization, fertilizers, irrigation, pesticides and monocropping
Economies of scale
Where average costs decrease and output increases
Organic Fertilizers
Composed of organic matter from plants to animals
Synthetic fertilizers
Produced commercially with the use of fossil fuels
Pesticides
Are often needed to remove pests from crops snuff classified differently
Insecticides
Those that affect insects and invertebrates that eat crops
Aerbicides
Those that target weed plants that compete with crops for nutrients
Broad spectrum pesticides
Those that kill many species quickly
Selective Pestiocides
Most that target a narrow range of organisms
Artifical Selection
Choosing which animal and plants should reproduce rather than allowing reproduction to occur naturally
Plowing
Regular disturbance of soils that occurs in order to turn soil over
Tilling
Bring nutrient from horizon and removing weeds (includes other activities such as stirring digging and cultivation)
Slash and burn agriculture
Clear the land by burning existing vegetation to release Utrecht’s into the soil
Shifting agriculture
Moving on to another area because of the nutrient depleted soil
Aquifier
Groundwater is stored in pore spaces with permeable layers of rock and sediment similar to a sponge
Unconfined Aquifier
Aquifiers that are surrounded by impermeable rock or clay
Ground water Recharge
Water from precipitation percolates through soil, it assesses into the groundwater
Springs
Water can percolate up to the ground surface
Artesian Well
Confined Aquifiers can be drilled into to gather water
Water footprint
The total daily Capita use of fresh water for a country or thr world
Fungicide
Meant to target fungi
Rodencide
Specially meant to target rodents
Persistent Pesticides
Pesticides that remain in the environment for years to decades
No persistent Pesticides
Pesticides that are meant to break down rapid;y but may have to be applied more often
Pesticides resistance
A trait a certain individual can develop when they are exposed to a pesticide to often
Concerntrated Animal feeding operations
Large indoor and outdoor structures to create maximum occupancy of animals for maximum output of meat
Free range grazing
Allowing the animals to graze outdoors on grass for most of their lifecycle
Nomadic grazing
The feeding of herds of animals by moving them to seasonally productive feeding grounds often over long distances
Overgrazing
Another result of slowing cattle to graze in one area for too long
Bycatch
Effect of attempting to catechism as many fish as possible leads to unintentional catch of non tavern species
Fishery Collaspe
Overharvesting where 90& or more of population declines
Crustal abundance
The average concentration of elements in the Earth’s crust
Ores
Concentrated accumulations of minerals that are considered economically viable
Metals
Elements with properties that allow them to conduct electricity and heat energy
Strip Mining
Removing strips of surface rock
Open - Pit Mining
Creating a large hole in the ground to reach the desired resource
Mountaintop removal
Removing the top of a mountain with explosives to reach resources below
Placer mining
Looks for minerals, metals, and stones in river sediments
Mine tailings
Mini gear remix the resources wanted using these methods but return unwanted waste materials back to the source.
Subsurface Mining
Mining more than 100 m below the surface of the earth
Urbanization
The process of an area becoming more urban or increasing density of people per unit area of land
Urban Areas
Areas that contain more than 386 people per square kilometers
Suburbs
Recently urban areas that have become denser in population leading to increasing of numbers (areas that surround metropoltican centers with lower population then cities)
Exurbs
Similar to suburbs but are not ddirectly connected to a central city or densely populated areas
Urban Sprawl
The movement of urbanized areas into rural areas due to many different factors
Urban blight
Decay and deterioration of an urban areas due to neglect or age
Sense of place
The feeling that an area hasmeaningful character
Saltwater intrusion
Reduced groundwater levels near shorelines have led to an intrusion of salt water in n area where freshwater was previously found due to cone of depression
Impervious surfaces
Pavement to other surfaces that do not allow water penetratuon, can also lead to reduction of infiltration of precipitation and more flooding due to runoff
Urban runoff
Occurs when water from an urban area doesn’t evapotranspire or infiltrate the soil
