AP HUGE Unit 5 Agricultural & Rural Land Use Patterns & Processes

Agribusiness

The large-scale system that includes the production, processing, and distribution, financial funding and research of agricultural products and equipment.

Agricultural Biodiversity

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

Agricultural Hearth

an area where different groups began to domesticate plants and animals

Agricultural Landscapes

a landscape resulting from the interactions between farming activities and a location's natural environment

Agriculture

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

Agroecosystem

an ecosystem modified for agricultural use

Aquifers

layers of sand, gravel, or bedrock that hold or move ground water

Bid-Rent Theory

a theory that describes the relationships between land value, commercial location, and transportation (primarily in urban areas) using a bid-rent gradient, or slope; used to describe how land costs are determined

Biodiversity

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

Biotechnology

the science of altering living organisms, often through genetic manipulation, to create new products for specific purposes, such as crops that resist certain pests

Cash Crop

farm crop raised to be sold for money

Central Business District (CBD)

the central location where the majority of consumer services are located in a city or town because the accessibility of the location attracts these services

Climate Regions

an area that has similar climate patterns generally based on its latitude and its location on a coast or continental interior

Clustered Settlements

A rural settlement in which the houses and farm buildings of each family are situated close to each other and fields surround the settlement.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods and ideas between Native Americans and Europeans

Commercial Agriculture

an agricultural practice that focuses on producing crops and raising animals for the market for others to purchase

Commodity Chain

a network of people, information, processes, and resources that work together to produce, handle, and distribute a commodity or product

Crop Rotation

the system of growing a different crop in a field each year to preserve the fertility of the land

debt-for-nature swap

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 measures

Deforestation

loss of forested land

Desertification

the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

Dispersed Settlements

a rural settlement pattern in which houses and buildings are isolated from one another, and all the homes in a settlement are distributed over a relatively large area

Domestication

the taming of animals for human use, such as work or as food

Dual Agricutural Economy

an economy having two agricultural sectors that have different levels of technology and different patterns of demand

Economy of Scale

cost reductions that occur when production rises

Enclosure System

a system in which communal lands were replaced by farms owned by individuals, and use of the land was restricted to the owner or tenants who rented the land from the owner

Extensive Agriculture

use of little labor and capital to increase agricultural productivity

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

Farm Subsidies

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

Fertile Crescent

a hearth in Southwest Asia that forms an arc from the eastern Mediterranean coast up into what is now western Turkey and then south and east along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to western parts of modern Iran

First Agricultural Revolution

the shift from foraging for food to farming about 11,000 years ago, marking the beginning of agriculture

Food Deserts

Areas where it is difficult to find affordable, healthy food options. More common in highly populated low-income urban neighborhoods where there are fewer grocery stores/transportation options to seek out other food choices.

Food Insecurity

the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of poor access to food

Food Security

reliable access to safe and nutritious food that can support an active and healthy lifestyle

Foragers

small nomadic groups who had primarily plant-based diets and ate small animals or fish for protein

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's)

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

Global Supply Chain

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

Green Revolution

a large increase in crop production in developing countries achieved by the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield crop varieties.

Hybrid

the production created by breeding different varieties of species to enhance the most favorable characteristics

infrastructure

Fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools

Intensive Agriculture

an agricultural practice in which farmers expend a great deal of effort to produce as much yield as possible from an area of land

Linear Settlement

a pattern of settlements in which homes and other buildings follow the lines taken by the road

Market Gardening

The small scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers. Distinguishable by the large diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, during a single growing season. Labor is done manually.

Mediterranean agriculture

an agricultural practice that consists of growing hardy trees and shrubs and raising sheep and goats

Mixed Crop and Livestock Systems

a type of farming in which both crops and livestock are raised for profit

Monocropping

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

Monoculture

farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year

Nomadic Herding

migratory but controlled movement of livestock solely dependent on natural forage

Pastoral Nomadism

form of agriculture based on herding domesticated animals

Plantation Agriculture

a type of large-scale commercial farming of one particular crop grown for markets often distant from the plantation

Precision Agriculture

use of computer technology and geographic information systems to automatically vary the chemicals applied to a crop at different places within a field

Reservoirs

large lakes that store water for human use

Salinization

A process in which mineral salts accumulate in the soil, killing plants; occurs when soils in dry climates are irrigated profusely

Second Agricultural Revolution

a change in farming practices, marked by new tools and techniques, that diffused from Britain and the Low Countries starting in the early 18th century

Shifting Cultivation

the agricultural practice of growing crops or grazing animals on a piece of land for a year or two, then abandoning that land when the nutrients have been depleted from the soil and moving to a new piece of land where the process is repeated

Slash and Burn

A farming method involving the cutting of trees, then burning them to provide ash-enriched soil for the planting of crops

Subsistence Agriculture

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe.

Tariffs

a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports.

Terracing

creating flat platforms in the hillside that provide a level planting surface, which reduces soil runoff from the slope.

Third Agricultural Revolution

Currently in progress, the Third Agricultural Revolution has as its principal orientation the development of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's)

Transhumance

The movements of livestock according to seasonal patterns, generally lowland areas in the winter, and highland areas in the summer.

Vertical Integration

the combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies.

Von Thunen Model

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

Wetlands

water-saturated land area that supports aquatic plants