apes sustainability

A harvesting method that removes all trees from a landscape.

Clear-cutting

Characterized by the utilization of pesticides, hybridization

techniques, and mechanization to produce more food than

has ever been produced in human history. It was very good

in some ways, but very bad in other ways.

the green revolution

commercially valuable deposits of concentrated minerals that

can be harvested and used as raw material

ore

An ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term

prevention of pests or their damage through a combination

of techniques such as biological control, habitat

manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of

resistant varieties.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

A measure of the cloudiness or haziness of water

Turbidity

Population of fish used for commercial fishing

Fisheries

Animals are confined for 45 days or longer over the course of a year. Are possible because of government subsidies and valued by corporate agriculture for their efficiency.

cafos

The maximum amount of a renewable resource that can be

harvested without reducing or depleting the resource for

future use

Maximum Sustainable Yield

An increase in soil salinity caused by over-irrigating crops.

This can make the soil completely incapable of supporting

plants.

Salinization

The known amount of a resource left that can be mined.

Usually measured in years left of extraction.

Reserve

Occurs when underground water sources are overexploited

and overused in coastal settings, and leads to the

contamination of fresh water aquifers

Salt Water Intrusion

Overuse of groundwater does not have to lead to major land

subsidence before it causes problems. On a more local scale,

over-pumping can result in lowering of the water table in a

generally concentric pattern of water table drawdown.

Cone of Depression

it's an overall approach to development that encourages a

mix of building types and uses, diverse housing and

transportation options, development within existing

neighborhoods, and robust community engagement.

Smart Growth

Soil, vegetation, & rocks that are removed to get to an ore

deposit below

Overburden

When a shared resource is depleted due to the individual

selfishness of the parties involved.

Tragedy of the Commons

Returning a place to its original state to the best of your

ability

Reclamation

Legislation passed annually that dictates how funds are

utilized to subsidize agricultural operations and food

production.

Farm Bill

a sum of money granted by the government or a public body

to assist an industry or business so that the price of a

commodity or service may remain low or competitive

Subsidy

body of saturated rock through which water can easily

move. They must be both permeable and porous and include

such rock types as sandstone, conglomerate, fractured

limestone and unconsolidated sand and gravel.

Aquifer

a low-maintenance vegetated roof system that stores

rainwater in a lightweight engineered soil medium, where the

water is taken up by plants and transpired into the air.

Green Roofs

Removal of mature, marketable trees in an area in a series of

partial cuttings to allow regeneration of a new stand under the

partial shade of older trees, which are later removed.

Shelterwood Harvesting

A method of fishing that destroys the natural seafloor habitat

by essentially rototilling the seabed. All of the bottom-dwelling

plants and animals are affected, if not outright destroyed by

tearing up root systems or animal burrows.

Bottom Trawling

A plot of ground, often near a stockyard, where livestock are

gathered to be fattened for market.

Feedlot

occurs when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat.

Urban Heat Island Effect

Organisms whose genome has been engineered in the

laboratory in order to favor the expression of desired

physiological traits or the generation of desired biological

products.

gmos

All topsoil is turned under and exposed to erosion and the

elements

Conventional Tillage

Agricultural system that uses ecologically based pest controls

and biological fertilizers derived largely from animal and plant

wastes and nitrogen-fixing cover crops

Organic Farming

The systematic clearing and repurposing of the land for

agriculture, livestock, or industrial uses. One of the most

important causes of rising atmospheric CO2 levels

Deforestation

Minimum or no-till – either loosely break the surface or use

special planting equipment to put seeds into earth without

exposing topsoil

Conservation Tillage

the accumulation over time of a substance and especially a

contaminant (such as a pesticide or heavy metal) in a living

organism

Bioaccumulation

Grown predominantly in South East Asia and is the main

driver of deforestation in that region.

Palm Oil

Are one of the primary methods of ex situ conservation -- a

place where seeds, cuttings, or important genetic material

from crops, both domesticated and wild, are stored,

catalogued, and preserved for future research

Gene or Seed Banks

rainwater leaks into abandoned mine tunnels & mixes with

pyrite, forming sulfuric acid

Acid Mine Drainage

the cutting out of trees that are mature or defective, or of

inferior kinds to encourage the growth of the remaining trees

in a forest or wood

Selective Harvesting

Used extensively in CAFOs to store excess animal manure

Lagoon

the cultivation of a single crop in a given area

Monoculture

Any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter,

extracts soluble or suspended solids, or any other component

of the material through which it has passed

Leachate

A multitude of different crops grown on a given expanse of

land, either through crop rotation or planting rows of

different crops side-by-side.

polyculture

The intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and

animal farming systems to create environmental, economic,

and social benefits.

agroforestry (alley cropping )

The process by which a compound (such as a pollutant or

pesticide) increases its concentration in the tissues of

organisms as it travels up the food chain

Biomagnification

The rearing of aquatic animals or the cultivation of aquatic

plants for food

Aquaculture

To minimize off-farm inputs and look for the highest efficiency of on-farm resources

Low-input Agriculture

Refers to the harvest of a specific (self-renewing) natural

resource—for example, timber or fish. Such a yield is one that

can in principle be maintained indefinitely because it can be

supported by the regenerative capacities of the underlying

natural system.

Sustainable Yield

Has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing

water to drip slowly to the roots of plants from installed lines,

either from above the soil surface or buried below the

surface. The goal is to place water directly into the root zone

and minimize evaporation

Drip Irrigation

The practice of planting different crops sequentially on the

same plot of land to improve soil health, optimize nutrients in

the soil, and combat pest and weed pressure.

Crop Rotation

Method of applying water to a controlled manner in that is

similar to rainfall. The water is distributed through a network

that may consist of pumps, valves, pipes, and sprinklers.

Irrigation sprinklers can be used for residential, industrial,

and agricultural usage

Sprinkler Irrigation

a system involving a series of long and narrow clear-cuts, with

alternating uncut strips of forest left between

Strip Harvesting

Refer to the controlled application of fire by a team of fire

experts under specified weather conditions to restore health

to ecosystems that depend on fire

Prescribed Burn

native shrubs, perennials, and flowers planted in a small

depression, which is generally formed on a natural slope and

us used as a green way to treat and prevent storm water

runoff.

Rain Garden

Agricultural plants that are used primarily to slow erosion,

improve soil health, enhance water availability, smother

weeds, help control pests and diseases, and increase

biodiversity

Cover Crops

leftover waste material separated from the valuable metal or

mineral within ore (often stored in ponds @ mine site)

Tailings and Slag

It is the most common form of irrigation where water is

applied and distributed over the soil surface by gravity. Three

major types are level basin, furrow, and border strip. The

drawback of this irrigation system is wastage of water and its

inefficient utilization.

Surface/flood Irrigation

the rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and

towns, often characterized by low-density residential

housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the

private automobile for transportation.

Urban Sprawl

deteriorating and abandoned homes and buildings, as well as

vacant lots with trash, high weeds and grass and/or

abandoned and vandalized cars.

Urban Blight