Studied by 5 people
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
Farmers
(TERM) who raise crops and livestock to sell in the market at a profit rather than raising them for their own consumption
Physical geography
The study of Earth’s physical characteristics and processes: how they work, how they affect humans, and how humans affect them
Nutrients
Components of topsoil (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) necessary for plants to survive, grow, and reproduce
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
Tropical wet and dry climate
A climate located along the equator that has a dry season with little to no rain, usually in the winter; is often subject to monsoons
Monsoon
Seasonal reversal of winds with a general onshore movement in summer and a general offshore movement in winter; onshore winds bring (TERM) rains
Monsoon rains
Long periods of heavy rains every day at the end of a short dry season
Arid climate
A climate that receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain annually
Semiarid (steppe) climate
A climate that receives about 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain annually that can support farming;
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
Humid subtropical climate
A climate with long, hot summers and short, mild winters with variable precipitation; found on east coasts of continents
Marine west coast climate
A climate characterized by moderate temperatures during long summers and cool winters
Mediterranean climate
A climate with winter precipitation, unusually mild winters, and clear skies with abundant sunshine
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
Humid continental climate
A climate with a wide range of temperatures, moderate precipitation, and four distinct seasons; experiences warm to hot summers, moderate to abundant rainfall (20–50 inches [50–150 centimeters] annually), and cold winters with precipitation falling as snow
Humid cold climate
A climate with frigid temperatures nearly year-round; found in northern reaches of the continental climate zone and often described as subarctic
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
Commericial 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
Truck farm
A scaled-up version of market gardening, with more acreage, less crop diversity, and a stronger orientation toward more distant 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
Cereal grains
Seeds that come from a wide variety of grasses cultivated around the world, including wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, oats, and maize (corn)
Millet
A fast-growing cereal plant that is widely grown in warm regions with poor soil
Root crops
Vegetables that form below ground and must be dug at maturity, such as cassava, potatoes, and yams
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
Peasants
Small-scale farmers who own their fields, rely chiefly on family labor, and produce both for their own subsistence and for sale in the market
Paddy rice farming
A system of wet rice cultivation on small level fields bordered by impermeable dikes; the fields (paddies) are flooded with 4–6 inches (10–15 centimeters) of water for about three-quarters of the growing season
Grain farming
A highly mechanized commercial farming system that specializes in the production of cereal grains; requires large farms and widespread use of machinery, synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, and genetically engineered seeds
Livestock fattening
An intensive system of animal feeding utilizing fenced enclosures to fatten livestock, mostly cattle and hogs, for slaughter and processing for the market
Feedlot
A fenced enclosure used for intensive livestock feeding that serves to limit livestock movement and associated weight loss
Dairying
A farming system that specializes in the breeding, rearing, and utilization of livestock (primarily cows) to produce milk and its various by-products, such as yogurt, butter, and cheese
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
Slash-and-burn agriculture (swidden agriculture)
Agriculture that involves cutting small plots in forests or woodlands, burning the cuttings to clear the round and release nutrients, and planting in the ash of the cleared plot
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
Tundra
The vast, flat, treeless arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen
Livestock ranching
The practice of using extensive tracts of land to rear herds of livestock to sell as meat, hides, of wool
Rural area
Area located outside of towns and cities; all the space, population, and housing not included in an urban area
Rural settlement
Small group of people living outside of an urban area
Agricultural landscape
The visible imprint of agricultural practices
Grain elevator
Large storage facility for grain
Suitcase farm
In U.S commercial grain agriculture regions, a farm on which no one lives; planting and harvesting are done by hired migratory crews
Silo
Round or square tower-like structure that stores feed for the livestock on the farm
Settlement pattern
The ways in which people organize themselves on the land
Clustered settlement/farm village
A tightly bunched farm settlement that has anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred inhabitants
Farmstead
Center of farm operations, which includes the farmhouse, barns, shed, livestock pens, and family garden
Dispersed settlement/isolated settlement
A settlement pattern in which families live relatively distant from one another
Linear settlement pattern
A settlement pattern in which buildings are arranged in a line, often along a road or river; limited to areas where legal systems dictated that property lines must be rectangular
Survey methods
The methods used by surveyors to lay out property lines
Cadastral survey
Systematic documentation of property ownership, shape, use, and boundaries
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
Domestication
The long-term process through which humans selectively breed, protect, and care for individuals taken from populations of wild plant and animal species to create genetically distinct species
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
Teosinte
Large wild grass native to Mexico that produced the small ears of maize (corn) that were a favored food among early groups in Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
The cultural region in the Americas that includes the diverse civilizations in the modern-day countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
Biodiversity
The variety and variability among species and ecosystems
Hearth
A center where innovations or new practices develop and from which the innovations or new practices spread or diffuse
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 (TERM) 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
Seed drill
A machine for planting seeds in a row
Mechanical reaper
A machine used to harvest grain crops mechanically; patented by Cyrus McCormick in 1831
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
Pesticides
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
Nutrient pollution
Consequence of overuse of fertilizer; occurs when excess nutrients seep down into groundwater or are carried into nearby waterways as runoff
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
Cassava
A root vegetable native to South America
Sorghum
A grain plant native to northeast Africa
Endemic
Native to or characteristic of a certain environment
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
Soil salinity
The concentration of dissolved salts in the soil
