Apes-Chapter 9

Front 1

Agriculture

Back 1

Practice of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock for human use and consumption

Front 2

Cropland

Back 2

Currently covers 38% of Earth

Front 3

Rangeland

Back 3

Pasture used for livestock

Front 4

Soil

Back 4

Mix of rock, organic matter, water, gases, nutrients, and microorganisms

Front 5

Traditional agriculture

Back 5

-10,000 years ago
-Needed human and animal energy, hand tools and simple machines

Front 6

Monoculture

Back 6

Planting a single crop

Front 7

Green revolution

Back 7

Applied technology to boost crop yields

Front 8

What are the two types of Agriculture?

Back 8

-Industrialized= demand-based, high use of fossil fuels, large tracts of land, fertilizers/pesticides, monoculture, high yield
-Subsistence= resource-based, smaller scale, human labor, polycultures, fewer pesticides/fertilizer

Front 9

Parent material

Back 9

Base geological material in a location, can be composed of volcanic, glacier, sediments, or bedrock

Front 10

Weathering

Back 10

First step in the formation of soil

Front 11

Erosion

Back 11

Process of moving soil from on area to another, usually depletes topsoil

Front 12

Horizons

Back 12

Soil from any given location decided into layers

Front 13

Soil profile

Back 13

Cross-section from bedrock to surface

Front 14

O horizon

Back 14

Uppermost layer of soil consisting of mostly organic matter

Front 15

A horizon (topsoil)

Back 15

Below O horizon, mostly inorganic minerals with some organic matter and humus

Front 16

E horizon

Back 16

Below A horizon, zone of eluviation

Front 17

Leaching

Back 17

Picks up particles in soil and transports them elsewhere

Front 18

B horizon

Back 18

Layer beneath A and E that contains materials leached from A and E

Front 19

C horizon

Back 19

Beneath B, contains rock particles that are larger

Front 20

R horizon

Back 20

Below C, parent material (bedrock)

Front 21

Clay

Back 21

Particles less than .002mm in diameter

Front 22

Silt

Back 22

Particles between .002-.05 mm

Front 23

Sand

Back 23

Particles .05-2 mm

Front 24

Loam

Back 24

Soil with even mixture of particles

Front 25

Desertification

Back 25

Loss of more than 10% productivity due erosion, soil compaction, forest removal, overgrazing, drought, ect.

Front 26

Dust Bowl

Back 26

-1903s in Middle states
-Grassland and drought w/o irrigation
-Change from petennial grasses to annual crops
-Dust storms

Front 27

Conservation districts

Back 27

Districts in counties that promoted soil-conservation

Front 28

Crop rotation

Back 28

Practice of alternating the kind of crop grown in a particular field from one season/year to the next

Front 29

Contour farming

Back 29

Plowing furrows along natural contour of land

Front 30

Intercropping

Back 30

Planting of alternating bands of different crops across a slope

Front 31

Terracing

Back 31

Cutting level platforms into hillsides

Front 32

Shelterbelts

Back 32

Rows of trees planted along edges of fields to break wind

Front 33

Irrigation

Back 33

Artificial provision of water

Front 34

Salinization

Back 34

Problem, buildup of slats in surface of soil layers

Front 35

Inorganic fertilizers

Back 35

Synthetically manufactured mineral supplements

Front 36

Organic fertilizers

Back 36

Natural materials used

Front 37

Plowing

Back 37

-Turning top 6 inch of soil over
-To reduce weeds (among other)
-Seed bed preparation

Front 38

Conservation tillage

Back 38

-Reduces # of time land is plowed
-"No till"= don't plow, harvest and leave remains, plant new seed in between old

Front 39

What are on-site and off-site effects?

Back 39

-On-site effects= w/in field, soil degredation, lack of genetic diversity, pesticide buildup,
-Off-site effects= erosion, runoff, h2O depletion

Front 40

What was the Soil Conservation Act?

Back 40

-1935
-Created conservation districts at a local level
-Enforced planting of hedgrows (wind blocks)

Front 41

What are the pros and cons of conservation tillage?

Back 41

-Pros= less erosion, more organic matter (more nutrients), less energy use
-Cons= buy new equipment, weeds (pests in old stocks)

Front 42

What are pros and cons of irrigation?

Back 42

-Pros= allows planting on marginal land
-Cons= salinization, <50% of water ends up in plant/soil

Front 43

What is Drip Irrigation?

Back 43

Main pipe with feeder hoses, very effective drips water at base of plant, but expensive

Front 44

What are problems with fertilizer?

Back 44

-Eutrophication from runoff
-Overuse (at some point, too much will actually decrease yield)

Front 45

Organic vs. conventional agriculture

Back 45

-Organic= high organic content (retains water and nutrients), lower energy, soil better, better in drought
-Convential= nutrients the same

Front 46

How long does soil take to form?

Back 46

500 years

Front 47

What are the steps in soil formation?

Back 47

1. Physical weathering= freezing rain, thermal expansion
2. Chemical weathering= acid rain
3. Biological weathering= life form is involved (lichen)

Front 48

What (again) are the horizons in the soil profile?

Back 48

-O= organic, leaf litter
-A= topsoil, darker, high-organic matter or humus
-E= eluviation: removal of nutrients from leaching
-B= illuviation: accumulation of clay from A horizon
-C= broken up parent rock
-R= parent rock (bedrock)