Edexcel IGCSE Geography - Rural Environments

Accessibility

The ease with which one location is reached from another.

Arable Farming

A type of agriculture where the focus is on growing crops.

Pastoral farming

The rearing of livestock such as sheep or cattle for meat, milk, wool etc.

Cash Cropping

The raising of crops for market sale rather than domestic consumption.

Commercial farming

The raising of crops and livestock for sale in markets rather than for domestic consumption

Conservation

The protection of aspects of the environment for the future benefit of people.

Counterurbanisation

The movement of people and activities away from large cities to small towns, villages or the countryside.

Depopulation

People leaving the countryside, often to go to urban areas, so rural population goes down.

Ecosystem

A community and plants that interact with each other and their physical environment.

Irrigation

The addition of water to farmland by artificial means, such as pipelines and sprays.

Genetic Engineering

Changing the genetic material of a plant or animal to produce such things as a greater resistance to disease and a higher yield.

Out-Migration

The movement of people away from an area.

Rural

the countryside or non-urbanised areas. Rural areas may have small settlements, low population density and open space used for farming

System

A set of interrelated components (stores) and processes (transfers). There are two types of system; an open system has inputs and outputs; a closed system has none.

Biome

A world‐scale ecosystem usually defined by the dominant vegetation, for example the tropical rain forest.

Adaptation

The way plants and animals have evolved to cope with the conditions they live in, such as grasses being able to survive fire by growing from their base.

High Yielding Varieties (HYVs)

High Yielding Varieties of cereal crops such as rice and wheat which have been developed since the 1960s and can more than double yields.

Service Provision

Making available a range of commercial and social services, from shops to schools.

Temperate Grassland

A biome found in the dry interiors of continents that supports large numbers of grasses, rather than trees or shrubs.

boreal forest

Boreal forest, a biome characterised by coniferous forests. boreal ecosystem, an ecosystem with a subarctic climate in the Northern Hemisphere.

Diversification

when a farm branches out from traditional farming by adding new money making activities. This can be in place of or in addition to its traditional farming pursuits

Deserts

ecosystems that are arid or dry, and get less than 250mm of rain per year. Deserts can be hot or cold. Plants and animals in the desert ecosystem have adaptations that allow them to survive the lack of rainfall and extreme temperatures

Extensive farming

farming large areas of land, with low inputs (labour, fertilisers) and low yields

Farm economy

agricultural activities which generate income

Genetically modified (GM) food

Food coming from crops and livestock that have been genetically engineered to improve productivity and disease-resistance. The scientific techniques include either transferring genes from one organism to another, or changing genetic materials within an organism.

goods

items which you buy. Goods produced by ecosystems include food (meat, fish, vegetables etc), water, fuels and timber

income stream

the money which results from a particular activity e.g. diversification provides new income streams

intensive farming

farming with high inputs (fertilisers, labour and fossil fuels) often in a small area, producing high yields

IGO (intergovernmental organization)

an agency (like the World Bank or the European Union) set up by two or more states (countries) to carry out projects and plans in common interest

Negative multiplier

when one process (e.g. population growth) leads to a negative result (e.g. rural-urban migration) with further negatives (e.g. loss of workforce means that yields decrease)

NGO

a non-governmental organization, usually a charity

organic farming

a method of crop and livestock production that involves much more than choosing not to use pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, antibiotics and growth hormones.

quality of life

the standard of health, comfort, and happiness experienced by an individual or group.

recreation and leisure

leisure = free time, freedom from time-consuming duties, responsibilities, or activities

recreation = play ; refreshment of one's mind or body after work through activity that amuses or stimulates

rural isolation

is often assessed through the proximity to services - it is a form of deprivation

rural urban migration

people leaving from the countryside to live in towns and cities

services

services in ecosystems refer to any beneficial natural process arising from healthy ecosystems, such as purification of water and air, pollution of plants and decomposition of waste

suburbanisation

a move from inner to outer urban areas

structure (population)

The balance of young, middle aged, and old people in an area. A population pyramid shows the age and gender structure of an areas population.

subsistence

farming to produce food to eat and selling any extra that might be produced

sustainable rural living

is based on producing low impact, rural communities in which economic, social and environmental values are in harmony

temperate forests

are found in mid latitudes and they are deciduous

tropical forests

temperate rainforests are found north or south of the equator. the tropical rainforest is a hot, moist biome where it rains all year long. There is no seasonal leaf loss

tundra

is a type of biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons

change

to make or become different

modify

make partial or minor changes to something, typically so as to improve it or to make it less extreme.

population growth

An increase in the number of people in a country

natural hazards

natural phenomenon with native effect