AP Environmental Science Falkin 2025 Unit 5 Part 2 Vocab - Land and Water Use

Tragedy of the Commons

The tendency of a shared, limited resource to become depleted because people act from self-interest for short-term gain.

Externality

The cost or benefit of a good or service that is not included in the purchase price of that good or service.

Forests

Land dominated by trees and other woody vegetation and sometimes used for commercial logging

Clear-cutting

A method of harvesting trees that involves removing all or almost all of the trees within an area.

Selective cutting

The method of harvesting trees that involves the removal of single trees or a relatively small number of trees from among many in a forest.

Tree plantations

A large area typically planted with a single rapidly growing tree species.

Multiple-use lands

A U.S. classification used to designate lands that may be used for recreation, grazing, timber harvesting, and mineral extraction.

Green Revolution

A shift in agricultural practices in the twentieth century that included new management techniques, mechanization, fertilization, irrigation, and improved crop varieties, and resulted in increased food output.

Salinization

A form of soil degradation that occurs when the small amount of salts in irrigation water becomes highly concentrated on the soil surface through evaporation.

Monocropping

An agricultural method that utilizes large plantings of a single species or variety.

Pesticide

A substance, either natural or synthetic, that kills or controls organisms that people consider pests.

Insecticides

A pesticide that targets species of insects and other invertebrates that consume crops.

Herbicide

A pesticide that targets plant species that compete with crops.

Broad-spectrum pesticide

A pesticide that kills many different types of pests.

Selective pesticide

A pesticide that targets a narrow range of organisms.

Pesticide treadmill

A cycle of pesticide development, followed by pest resistance, followed by new pesticide development.

Concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO)

A large indoor or outdoor structure designed for maximum output.

Ore

A concentrated accumulation of minerals from which economically valuable materials can be extracted.

Strip mining

The removal of strips of soil and rock to expose ore.

Tailings

Unwanted waste material created during mining.

Desertification

The transformation of arable, productive land to desert or unproductive land due to climate change or destructive land use.

Bycatch

The unintentional catch of nontarget species while fishing.

National wilderness area

An area set aside with the intent of preserving a large tract of intact ecosystem or a landscape.

Integrated pest management (IPM)

An agricultural practice that uses a variety of techniques designed to minimize pesticide inputs.

Reserve

In resource management, the known quantity of a resource that can be economically recovered.