AP Human Geography - Unit 5

ap human geography unit 5

what is a 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

what is a tropical climate?

located along equator with warm and hot weather; either rains every day or doesn’t; monsoon prone

what is intensive agriculture?

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

what is market gardening?

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

what is plantation agriculture?

large land holding devoted to capital intensive, specialized production of a single tropical or subtropical crop for the global marketplace

what is a mixed crop/livestock system?

a diversified system of agriculture based of agriculture based on cultivation of cereal grains and root crops (potatoes and yams) and the rearing of livestock

what is extensive agriculture?

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

what is slash and burn? (swidden)

agriculture that involved cutting small plots in forests or woodlands, burning the cuttings to clear the land and release the nutrients, and planting in the ash of the cleared plot

what is shifting cultivation?

the cultivation of a plot of land until becomes less productive, typically over a period of about 3 to 5 years; when productivity drops, the farmer shifts to a new plot of land that has been prepared by slash-and-burn agriculture

what is truck farming?

scaled-up version of market gardening with more acreage, less crop diversity, and a stronger orientation toward more distant markets

what is nomadic herding?

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

what is ranching?

american term; type of commercial farming in which livestock (cattle) is allowed to roam over an established area

what is a rural settlement pattern?

small group of people living outside of an urban area

what is a dispersed settlement pattern?

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

what is 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

what are rural survey methods?

methods used by surveyors to lay out property lines

what are metes and bounds?

survey system that uses natural features such as trees, boulders, and streams to delicate property boundaries

what is 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 townships with 6 mile sides

what is a long-lot system?

a unit-block surveying system whose basic unit is a rectangle that’s 10x longer than its width

what is 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, known as domestications

what is the fertile crescent?

area of southwest Asia including the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates; the earliest center of domestication of seed plants

what is the Indus River Valley?

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

what is southeast asia?

area in southern area of Asia, located on the eastern side; home to water buffalos domesticated to plow rice on farms

what is central america?

cultured region including diverse civilizations spread throughout Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica

what is the 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 15th and 16th centuries

what is the 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

what is the 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

what is a pesticide?

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

what is biodiversity?

variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem

what is the green revolution?

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

what is high-yield seed?

seeds genetically modified to yield more seeds than normal

what is mechanized farming?

farming techniques that rely on machine to more efficiently produce crops

what is soil salinization?

the concentration of dissolved salts in the soil

what is sustenance farming?

production of food primarily for consumption by the farmer and mostly found in less developed countries

what is commercial agriculture?

agriculture undertaken in order to generate products for safe off the farm for profit

what is monocropping/monoculture?

the cultivation of a single commercial crop on extensive tracts of land

what is bid/rent theory?

geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand for real estate change as the distance from the central business district (CBD) increases

what is a commodity chain?

a linked system of processes that gather resources, convert them into goods, package them for distribution, disperse them, and sell them on the market

what are economies of scale?

a proportionate saving in costs gained by an increased level of production

what is the von thunen model?

an economic model development in the 19th century that aims to explain the spatial organization of agriculture and how it is influenced by transportation costs

what is the global supply chain?

agribusinesses. organized at the global scale; encompasses all elements of growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, marketing, consuming, and disposing of food for people

what is pollution?

occurs when humans contaminate the air, water, or land

what is desertification?

the process by which once-fertile land becomes desert as a result of climate variation or human activities

what is irrigation?

farming that relies on the controlled application of water to cultivated fields

what is deforestation?

the destruction of forested areas by human or natural means

what are genetically modified organisms?

a living organism, including crops and livestock, that is produced through genetic engineering

what is aquaculture?

the cultivation and harvesting of aquatic organism under controlled conditions

what is sustainable agriculture?

a commitment to satisfying human food and textile needs and to enhancing the quality of life for farming and society as whole, now and in the future; it requires a balance among feeding the growing population, minimizing environmental impacts, and ensuring social justice

what is urban farming?

the practice of growing fruits and vegetables on small private plots or shared community gardens within the confines of a city

what is community supported agriculture? (CSA)

a direct-to-consumer marketing arrangement in which farmers are guaranteed buyers for their produce at guaranteed prices and consumers receive fresh food directly from the producers

what are value-added specialty crops?

a crop whose physical state or form has been changed

what is fair trade?

a certification program that supports good crop prices for farmers and environmentally sound farming practices

what is a food desert?

area with limited access to fresh, nutritious food

what is food insecurity?

occurs when large numbers of people experience long periods of inadequate diets