Unit 5 (Topics 1-17) Flashcards
What is a common resource?
Non-excludable and rival, meaning anyone can take/use them and once one is taken, there is one less for everyone else to take. They are very easy to be taken advantage of and depleted. ex. trees, fish, oil, crabs, elephant tusks
How do humans effect common resources?
Humans use common resources at rates which exceed the carrying capacity, but also at rates at which they can hardly replenish the numbers of the previous population. This harms their population as well as the ecosystems and biodiversity around them.
Solutions to Tragedy of the Commons:
- Command and Control: Government regulations to limit human use.
- Cultural Norms: Society developing a moral obligation against using too much of a resource.
- Creating Property Rights: Creating boundaries and rights to resources. Can incentivize positive behavior.
What is an IQR?
Used in New Zealand; controls the total tonnage of catches one can have in the year; can be bought or sold.
Which part of the fishing experiment demonstrated the tragedy of the commons? Why?
Part one; This is because we had no control/ownership over any of the fish in the lake. In part one, especially because we could not communicate, it was a free for all to grab as many fish as you could before someone stole them all. This showed us a core principle of the “tragedy of the commons”: when a resource is not owned by a specific person, it can be easily depleted and overused.
What is the ideal way to manage a common resource?
The ideal way to manage the lake is to take enough to satisfy your family, and a small portion more to sell. There should always be a way in which the number of fish you take is regulated. The regulation of resources can help prevent exceeding the resource’s carrying capacity.
What is the tragedy of the commons?
Resources which are not owned and not regulated. Being unregulated, these resources are easily taken advantage of and can become severely depleted or gone forever if people over consume them (typically exceeding the carrying capacity).
What is clear-cutting?
When we cut all of the trees in an area down all at one time.
The effects of clear-cutting:
Habitat- Provisional - Forests provide habitats for many animals and plants; biodiversity.
Soil formation and Retention- Regulating- increases soil erosion, desertification, and the evaporation of water from the soil. It decreases water infiltration in the soil and the rate at which soil forms.
Moderating climate- Regulating- release carbon dioxide; leading to global warming.
Air and water pollution- Regulating- Forests are a sink for carbon. By burning down trees in deforestation, this carbon is released into the atmosphere; leads to ocean acidification. Increased albedo (reflectivity of the Earth’s surface)- Regulating- Burning trees in clearcutting forests creates exposed land. This land has less shade from trees, which increases the surface reflectivity in an area.
How does clear-cutting effect biogeochemical cycles?
Biogeochemical cycles- Regulating- Each of the biogeochemical cycles can be hurt by clearcutting, creating an increase of carbon. This affects the balance of each cycle.
1. Hydrological- When increased carbon enters the atmosphere, it cycles through the atmosphere and into the ocean. This causes ocean acidification.
2. Carbon- The increased carbon that is released from burning forests creates an influx of carbon in the atmosphere. Along with ocean acidification, most of the increased atmospheric carbon dioxide aids in global warming. Carbon particles, like ash, can create smog.
3. Nitrogen- When clearcutting happens, the soil’s ability to retain nutrients decreases. This means that the soil will cycle nitrogen into the soil at a slower rate than usual, making it hard for plants to intake more nitrogen. This decreases the amount of nitrogen being cycled through the ecosystem.
4. Phosphorus- When deforestation occurs, it can affect the soil composition, leading to increased erosion. This means that phosphorus may cycle through the lithosphere faster, but it also means that there will be less phosphorus in the soil for plants to take in, which affects the amount of phosphorus available for animals.
Economic benefits of forests:
- Timber and paper
- Grazing for livestock
- Ecotourism and aesthetics
- Impact on nearby real estate values
- Agricultural land for shade tolerant plants
- Sources of medicine
- Land for other uses
How does clear cutting effect the amount of algae and dissolved oxygen levels of nearby water?
When clear-cutting results in burning forests which increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this carbon is cycled into water sources. This creates an influx of carbon dioxide in the water. Since carbon dioxide is used in photosynthesis, the levels of algae increase. This can create algal blooms. They block the sunlight that the aquatic plants need for photosynthesis, and they lead to lower dissolved oxygen levels.
What is the Clean Water Act?
The Clean Water Act (1948) was created to regulate pollution runoff into major US water sources. The act makes it illegal to discharge pollutants into areas where it can runoff into water. This act also controls sewage and wastewater in the industry of factories and public buildings. They control the regulation of pollutant runoff into surface waterways.
Facts about the Amazon Rainforest:
1/5 of the forest is gone; 3/5 is used for cattle ranching
What is a forest biome?
Has a large density of trees.
ex. boreal forest, tropical rainforests, temperate deciduous forests, temperate rainforests, and tropical dry forests.
What percent of the earth are forests?
31%
How much carbon do the world’s forests store?
296 billion metric tons
Four biggest reasons for clear-cutting:
- agriculture, mining, and ranching
- timber harvesting
- slash and burn agriculture
- wildfires
What is primary forest?
Natural forests, untouched by people.
What is secondary forest?
Forests grown after clear-cutting, when they are regrowth
Where is clear-cutting most prominent?
Indonesia, Africa,
and Central and South
America. Specifically, Brazil and developing nations
Solutions to deforestation:
- Conservation concessions- give money to countries who are growing trees instead of cutting
- Debt-for-nature swaps- agreements to pay off a
developing country’s debt in exchange for preserving
forests - Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation (R E D D+)- program to reduce carbon emissions
What is MSY?
Maximum Sustainable Yield; allowing them to
achieve the greatest
amount of resource
extraction without
depleting the resource; uses different factors to determine and carrying capacity.
How much of the US forest is cut down?
about 2%
What is uneven aged tree growth?
create a mix of ages (and species), which creates greater structural diversity and more
habitats, and are generally more similar to what a national
forest would look like
What are other ways to clear cut?
The seed-tree approach leaves some seed-producing
trees to reseed the harvested area.
The shelterwood approach leaves some mature trees
behind to shelter growing seedlings.
Selection systems maintain uneven-aged stands by
removing only some trees. most expensive and dangerous
What is the National Forest
Management Act?
The National Forest
Management Act (1976) is required by the Forest Service to
draw up renewable resource management plans for each national forest
Are forest fires good for the environment?
prescribed burns can be good to clear out areas, but human started fires can release to much carbon into the atmosphere
What is the Green Revolution?
Describes a time when agricultural technology transformed and increased. It began in 1943, when Norman Borlaug went to Mexico to improve biotechnology and techniques in agriculture; the population was growing exponentially, while agriculture was growing at a linear rate
Changes in the Green Revolution were:
Genetically modified crops were implemented; farmers could plant crops they knew would survive and thrive. Before this, many farmers used trial and error.
Mechanization like tractors and plows increased the rate at which farmers could plant crops. Farmers used to plant by hand, requiring more manpower and more time.
Monoculture allowed for one crop to be mass planted in an area. This increased the yield of crops farmers were getting.
Pesticides killed the pests that would otherwise eat some of the yield of crops. This meant that more of the crops were surviving to adulthood to be harvested without being eaten by pests.
Irrigation systems were implemented, and they later developed into sprinkler systems, which allowed for farmers to easily water their crops, and they were able to water more at one time; able to also allow countries with drier soil to farm as well.
What were the benefits of the Green Revolution?
The Green Revolution helped underdeveloped countries out of starvation with the techniques and technology gained in this period. As the people from these countries gained more money, they were able to get more technology to help the agriculture industry grow. The Green Revolution made the agricultural industry easier, more efficient, and reliable.
What are the drawbacks of the Green Revolution?
GMOs, pesticides, and irrigation systems; Monoculture farming also increases soil erosion and decreases nutrients in the soil; Machinery increases carbon emissions
What are GMOs?
(est. 1943 in Mexico) Organisms that are modified at the genetic level have a high rate of tolerance to their surrounding environment. The crops that are GMOs have high nutrient tolerance, are pest resistant, and produce a sturdier and greater yield.
What are the benefits of GMOs?
pesticide resistant, made to have a durable stem, modified to produce a bigger yield, and good for the economies
What are the drawbacks of GMOs?
use of pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation; runoff of chemical fertilizer from the irrigation systems can contaminate waterways. This has led to sickness and even cases of birth defects
What is arable soil?
suitable for crops
What does overuse do to soil?
Overuse and degradation of soil by some farming practices can cause soil to become unsuitable for growing crops/food.
What is the purpose of tilling? Benefits? Drawbacks?
prepares soil to plant seeds, aerates it and returns the nutrients; leads to erosion, water evaporation, increased runoff and eutrophication, increased need for fertilizers, increases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
Where does slash and burn agriculture happen?
Tropical Rainforest with low nutrient content
(developing countries)
Africa, Indonesia, Central America, South America (Brazil)
What is slash and burn agriculture? Drawbacks?
cutting down all of the trees, and then burning the rest; very unsustainable: nutrients are quickly depleted within a couple of years. Farmers then move on to new areas and repeat the process; increased carbon, pollutants, and erosion
What is intensive agriculture?
growing crops by large commercial operations which produce one or two types of high yield crops (monocropping) reduces genetic diversity
