The Living World: Hot Deserts Key Terminology

Appropriate technology

Appropriate technology

Technology suited to the needs, skills, knowledge and wealth of local people and their environment

Arid

Dry, with little or no rainfall

Commercial farming

Growing crops or raising livestock for profit, often involving vast areas of land

Evaporation

The process of water changing from liquid to vapour

Irrigation

Artificial application of water to the land or soil

Nocturnal

Active during the night

Over-Cultivation

Where the intensive growing of crops exhausts the soil leaving it barren

Overgrazing

Too many livestock eating plants faster than they can regrow, so the land is unable to recover

Soil Erosion

Removal of topsoil faster than it can be replaced, due to natural (water and wind action), animal, and human activity

Sustainability

Actions that meet the needs of the present without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their needs