Chapter 12 Agriculture-Human Environment Interaction

Agriculture

The purposeful cultivation of plants or raising of animals to produce goods for survival, such as food, textiles, paper products, and industrial purposes.

Human-Environment Interaction

The relationship and impact humans have on the environment and how the environment, in turn, affects human societies.

Elevation

The height of land above sea level, influencing factors like climate and growing seasons in agriculture.

Soil

The biologically active coating of Earth's surface, characterized by fertility, texture, and structure, crucial for agriculture.

Topography

The physical features of the land, such as slope and position, affecting soil stability, water retention, and sun exposure.

Climate

The long-term patterns of temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions in a region, influencing agricultural practices.

Köppen Climate Classifications

A system developed by Vladimir Köppen to classify climates based on temperature, precipitation, and vegetation patterns.

Subsistence Agriculture

Farming for personal consumption, growing a variety of crops and raising livestock for family sustenance.

Commercial Agriculture

Farming for profit, where crops and livestock are grown to sell to customers.

Bid-Rent Theory

A theory explaining how land value and land use are determined based on accessibility and desirability, impacting agricultural practices.

Rural Survey Methods

Techniques like metes and bounds, long-lot survey system, and township and range system used to define property boundaries in rural areas.

Intensive Agriculture

Farming that involves high levels of inputs like labor, fertilizers, and technology to maximize yields, supporting both subsistence and commercial farming.

Monocropping

The practice of cultivating a single crop or two crops on the same land, allowing for specialization, simplification of cultivation, and maximizing efficiency.

Crop rotation

The practice of varying crops from year to year to prevent soil depletion caused by monocropping and to restore nutrients in the soil.

Intensive commercial agriculture

Agricultural practices that involve high levels of investment in resources like high-yield seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides to maximize plant growth and productivity.

Mediterranean agriculture

A type of intensive commercial agriculture common in regions like Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and parts of the US, characterized by the cultivation of crops like grapes, olives, dates, and figs for the global market.

Plantation agriculture

Large-scale commercial farming of a single crop grown for markets often distant from the plantation, commonly practiced in tropical regions for crops like cacao, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, bananas, and tea.

Market gardening/commercial gardening

The cultivation of fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers using intensive production methods on small tracts of land, often found in warm mid-latitude climates like Southeastern US, California, and Southeastern Australia.

Mixed crop and livestock systems

An intensive commercial agriculture system where both crops and livestock are raised for profit, commonly involving the cultivation of crops like corn, grains, and soybeans to feed cattle and pigs.

Dairy farming

A type of intensive commercial agriculture where cows are milked twice a day, and the milk is typically sold to wholesalers for distribution to retailers and consumers.

Extensive agriculture

Agricultural practices that use fewer inputs and less labor compared to intensive practices, resulting in lower outputs, commonly found in countries in the periphery and semi-periphery.

Shifting cultivation

A type of extensive subsistence agriculture where farmers move from one field to another, clearing and fertilizing land by burning vegetation, commonly practiced in tropical regions for crops like rice, maize, millet, and sorghum.

Köppen Climate Classifications

A system developed by Vladimir Köppen to classify the main climates on Earth based on global patterns of average temperatures, average precipitation, and natural vegetation.

Agricultural Hearths

Areas where groups began to domesticate plants and animals, such as the Fertile Crescent in Southwest Asia around 11,000 years ago.

Domestication

The deliberate effort to grow plants and raise animals, making them adapt to human demands through selective breeding to develop desirable characteristics.

Diffusion of Agriculture

The spread of agricultural knowledge and practices through relocation diffusion and stimulus diffusion, leading to the global spread of important crops over hundreds of years.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods and ideas between the Americas, Europe, and Africa after Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, resulting in significant changes in populations, diets, and agriculture.

Spatial Relationships

How major geographic concepts illustrate the connections and arrangements between different locations on Earth.

Economic Forces

Influences that impact agricultural practices, such as market demands, technological advancements, and global trade.

Rural Settlement Patterns

Different ways in which human settlements are organized in rural areas, influenced by factors like topography, resources, and cultural practices.

Population Distribution

The arrangement or spread of people across a given area, affecting societal dynamics and environmental interactions.

Selective Breeding

The process of breeding plants or animals for specific traits or characteristics to enhance their usefulness to humans.

Neolithic Revolution

The first agricultural revolution that began about 11,000 years ago, marking the shift from foraging to farming.

Staple Crops

Essential crops like rice, wheat, and maize that constitute about 80% of the world's diet.

Domestication

The process of taming and breeding animals for human use, such as sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens, horses, and camels.