APHUG Unit 5

Key terms/Concepts/Definitions

Agriculture

The planting and harvesting of domesticated plants and the raising of domesticated animals for food

Domesticated plant

A plant that is deliberately planted, protected, cared for, and used by humans and is genetically distinct from its wild ancestors

Domesticated animal

An animal that depends on people for food and shelter and is different from its wild ancestors in looks and behavior as a result of close contact with humans

Topography

The arrangement of shapes on Earth’s surface

Climate

The average pattern of weather over a 30-year period for a particular region

Weather

The day-to-day atmospheric conditions that affect daily decisions

Tropical wet climate

A climate located along the equator that experiences rain every day of the year

Arid climate

A climate that receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain annually

Moderate climate

A climate with an average year-round temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius); found north and south of the equator on the edges of tropical climates

Mediterranean climate

A climate with winter precipitation, unusually mild winters, and clear skies with abundant sunshine; found along the Mediterranean Sea and a few coastal regions

Continental climate

A climate that has a large range of temperatures and moderate precipitation; found in the interior of continents, north of the moderate climate zones

Intensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that use high levels of labor and capital relative to the size of the landholding

Subsistence agriculture

Food production mainly for consumption by the farming family and local community, rather than principally for sale in the market

Commercial agriculture

Farming oriented exclusively toward the production of agricultural commodities for sale in the market

Market gardening

A small-scale farming system in which a farmer plants one to a few acres that produce a diverse mixture of vegetables and fruits, mostly for sale in local and regional markets

Plantation

Large landholding devoted to capital-intensive, specialized production of a single tropical or subtropical crop for the global marketplace

Mixed crop/livestock agriculture

A diversified system of agriculture based on the cultivation of cereal grains and root crops (such as potatoes and yams) and the rearing of herd livestock

Cash crop

A crop raised to be sold for profit rather than to feed the farm family and the livestock; common cash crops are cotton, flax, hemp, coffee, and tobacco

Feedlot

A fenced enclosure used for intensive livestock feeding that serves to limit livestock movement and associated weight loss

Extensive agriculture

Crop cultivation and livestock rearing systems that require little hired labor or monetary investment to successfully raise crops and animals

Shifting cultivation

The cultivation of a plot of land until it becomes less productive, typically over a period of about three to five years; when productivity drops, the farmer shifts to a new plot of land that has been prepared by slash-and-burn agriculture

Intercropping

The farming practice of planting multiple crops together in the same clearing

Nomadic Herding (pastoralism)

A system of breeding and rearing herd livestock, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, by following the seasonal movement of rainfall to areas of open pasturelands

Livestock Ranching

The practice of using extensive tracts of land to rear herds of livestock to sell as meat, hides, or wool

Rural area

Area located outside of towns and cities; all the space, population, and housing not included in an urban area

Agricultural landscape

The visible imprint of agricultural practices

Settlement patterns

The ways in which people organize themselves on the land

Cluster settlement

A tightly bunched farm settlement that has anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred inhabitants

Dispersed settlement

A settlement pattern in which families live relatively distant from one another

Survey methods

The methods used by surveyors to lay out property lines

Metes and bounds

Survey system that uses natural features such as trees, boulders, and streams to delineate property boundaries

Township and range

Land survey system created by the U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785, which divides most of the country’s territory into a grid of square-shaped townships with 6-mile sides

Long-lot survey system

A unit-block surveying system whose basic unit is a rectangle that is typically 10 times longer than it is wide

First Agricultural Revolution

Period during which the early domestication and diffusion of plants and animals and the cultivation of seed crops led to the development of agriculture

Biodiversity

The variety and variability among species and ecosystems

Fertile Crescent

Area in Southwest Asia that includes the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates; the earliest center for domestication of seed plants

Indus River Valley

Area along the Indus River that flows from the highlands of Tibet and continues down along the border between present-day Pakistan and India; a site of the earliest domestication of plants and herd animals

Columbian Exchange

The interaction and widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, disease, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

Second Agricultural Revolution

Period that brought improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of farm produce that began in the late 1600s and continued through the 1930s

Agrichemicals

Chemical compounds obtained from petroleum and natural gas for use in agriculture; agrichemicals include fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides

Synthetic fertilizer

Industrially manufactured nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, made from petroleum by-products; contains higher concentrations of nutrients for plants than natural fertilizers

Pesticide

Material used to kill or repel animals or insects that can damage, destroy, or inhibit crop growth

Herbicide

Pesticide designed to kill or inhibit the growth of unwanted plants (weeds) that compete with crops

Runoff

The flow of rain or irrigation water over land

Green Revolution

The U.S.-supported development of high-yield seed varieties that increased the productivity of cereal crops and accompanying agricultural technologies for transfer to less developed countries

Crossbreeding

The act of mixing different species or varieties of plants or animals to produce hybrids

Hybrid

The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties

Double-cropping

Planting another crop on the same plot of land as soon as the first crop has been harvested

Multicropping

Planting two or three crops per year on the same land

Environmental contamination

Chemical residue that builds up with each application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

Soil salinization

The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

Capital expenditures

Assets that cost money, such as land, machinery, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, seeds, and livestock feed

Bid-rent theory

Explains how the demand for and price of land decrease as its distance from the central business district increases

Central Business District

A dense cluster of offices and shops located at a city’s most accessible point, usually its center