Ap Human Geography Unit 5

Agriculture

The purposeful cultivation of plants or raising of animals to produce goods for survival

Climate regions

Areas that have similar climate patterns generally based on their latitude and their location on coasts or continental interior

Mediterranean agriculture

Grows hardy trees (olive, fruit, but tree) and shrubs (grape vines) and raising sheep and goat

Subsistence agriculture

An agricultural process where machines are not used as much so more people work on farms to grow crops and livestock to feed to their family and community

Commercial agriculture

An agricultural process where farmers grow crops and raise livestock to sell to customers for a profit

Central Business District (CBD)

The central location where most businesses are in a city or a town due to the accessibility of the location which attracts the business

Bid-rent theory

A theory stating that land value determines how a farmer will use the land, which would either be intensively or extensively

Intensive agriculture

An agricultural process where farmers spent a lot of their time and effort to produce as many crops as they can on an area of land

Monocropping

The act of cultivating one or two crops that are rotated seasonally 

Monoculture

An agricultural system where a farmer plants one crop or raises one kind of animal annually

Crop rotation

Switching out growing different kinds of plants from year to year which allows the nutrients in soil to be resorted and continue to be productive

Planation agriculture

An agricultural system that involves large scale commercial farming of one particular crop that is grown for markets that are usually not close to the plantation 

Market Gardening

A type of farming that usually produces fruit, veggies, and flowers typically for a specific market, urban area, where it produce can be conventionally sold to local grocery stores, restaurants, farmer’s markets, and road stands

Mixed crop and livestock systems

Another type of intensive commercial agriculture where both crops and livestocks are raised for a profit

Extensive agriculture

A type of agricultural practice that has relatively few inputs and little investment in labor and capital leading to relatively low outputs

Shifting cultivation

A type of extensive agricultural practice where growing crops and raising animals on a piece of land for a year or two then abandoning it and moving to a different piece of land when the nutrients in the soil deplete and repeated

Slash and Burn

A type of shifting cultivation where exciting vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are planted; often used when clearing land

Pastoral nomadism

A type of agricultural process that involves people moving their domestic animals seasonally or as needed to allow the best grazing

Transhumane

The physical movement of herds between pastures at cooler tempts and higher elevation during the summer months and higher elevation during the winter months

Domestication

The intentional effort to grow plants and raise animals, making plants and animals, adapt to human demands, and using selective breeding to develop desirable characteristics

Foragers

Small nomadic groups who mostly have a plant-based diet and eat small animals and fish for protein

Agriculture hearth

An area where people began to domesticate different kinds of plants and animals

Columbian exchange

Named after Christopher Columbus who started this exchange of ideas and goods between the Americas, Europe, and Africa

First agriculture revolution

The shift from forging food to farming about 11,000 years ago, also known as the beginning of agriculture

Second agriculture revolution

A change in farming techniques shown by the use of new tools and techniques that diffused from Britain and the Low Countries starting in the early 18th century

Enclosure

A type of system where communal lands were replaced by farms owned by people and use of the land was restricted to the owner or tenants who rented the land from the owner

Third agriculture revolution

another shift into  further mechanization in agriculture through development of new tech and advances that began in the early 20th century to now

Genetically modified organisms (GMO’s)

A plant or animal with specific characteristics obtained through the manipulation of its genetic makeup

Green revolution

A movement from the 1950’s and 1960’s where scientists used knowledge of genetics to develop new high-yield strains of grains

Infrastructure

The multiple systems and facilities a country needs to function properly

Dual agricultural economy

2 agricultural sectors in the same country or region that have different levels of tech and different patterns of demand

Agribusiness

Large-scale system that includes the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products and equipment

Hybrid

A product created by breeding different varieties of species to enhance the most favorite characteristics

Vertical integration

When a company controls more than one stage of the production process

Commodity chain

A complex network that connects places of production with distribution to consumers due to the rise of agribusiness

Farm subsidies

A form of aid and insurance given by the federal government to certain farmers and agribusinesses

Tariffs

A tax or duty to be paid a particular import or export

Von Thunen Model

A model suggesting that perishability of the product and transport costs to the market each factor into the location of agricultural land use and activity

Global supply chain

A network of people, information, processes, and resources that work together to produce, handle, and distribute goods around the world

Cash crop

A crop produced in order to be sold and are usually exported to larger markets

Fair trade

A movement that tries to provide farmers and workers in peripheral and semi peripheral countries with a fair price for their products by providing more equitable trading conditions

Agriculture landscapes

Landscapes resulting from interactions between farming activities and a location’s natural environment

Agroecosystems

An ecosystem modified for agricultural use

Deforestation

The loss of forest land

Terracing

The practice of craving parts of a hill or a mountainside into small, level growing plots

Reserviors

Artificial lakes used to store water

Aquifers

Layers of sand, gravel, and rocks that contain and release a usable amount of water

Wetlands

Areas of land that are covered by or saturated with water like swamps, marshes, and bogs

Desertification

A form of land degradation that occurs when soil deteriorates to a desertlike condition

Biodiversity

The variety of organisms living in a location

Salinization

A process where water-soluble salts build up in the soil, which limits the ability of crops to absorb water

Debt for nature swaps

An agreement between a bank and a peripheral country in which the bank forgives a portion of the country’s debt in exchange for local investment in conservation measure

Biotechnology

The science of altering living organism often though genetic manipulation to create new products for a specific purpose like crops that resists a certain pests

Agricultural biodiversity

The variety and variability of plants, animals, and microorganisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture

Food security

Reliable access to safe, nutritious food that can support a healthy and active lifestyle

Food insecurity

The disruption of a household’s food intake or eating patterns because of poor access to food

Suburbanization

The shifting of population from cities into surrounding suburbs

Food desert

Areas where residents lack access to healthy nutritious foods due to the fact that stores selling those foods are too far away

Economies of Scales

The reduced cost of producing food items as the quantity of production increases