AP Human Geography Unit 5

GMOs

plants or animals whose DNA has been genetically modified, often through combination of DNA from a similar plant or animal species for desired traits

Aquaculture

raising of fish and shellfish in ponds and controlled saltwater hatcheries

Mediterranean climate

dry-summer climate that produces certain fruits, vegetables, and grains such as grapes, olives, figs, dates, tomatoes, zucchini, wheat, barley and prevails along the shores of the Mediterranean, in parts of California and Oregon, in central Chile, at South Africa’s Cape and in parts of southwestern and southern Australia

Plantation Agriculture

cash crops (cotton, coffee, sugar, tea) grown on large estates, usually for export; a legacy of colonization

Mixed crop/livestock systems

combination of cash crops and livestock to complement land and labor demands across the year

shifting cultivation (slash and burn)

- cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings using a natural rotation system

  - the forest vegetation is cleared by cutting and burning

  - the result is a layer of ash that contributes to the soil’s fertility

  - farmers move to another parcel of land when the soil becomes infertile 

Nomadic herding (Pastoral nomadism/transhumance)

seasonal migration of domesticated livestock, usually fixed territory between highlands & lowlands

rural settlement patterns:

clustered, dispersed, linear

long-lot survey system

·         divided land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals giving each household equal access to water resources

·         reflects a particular approach to surveying that was common with French areas in America

Metes and bounds survey system

·         survey of irregularly shaped tracts of land (does not conform to rectangular system of surveys)

·         relies on descriptions of land ownership in reference to natural features such as streams, hills, trees, etc. that was common in English areas in America

Township and range survey system

·         rectangular survey system used by the U.S. federal government to divide the land into a grid like pattern

·         designed by Thomas Jefferson to facilitate the dispersal of settlers evenly across farmlands of the US interior

Fertile Crescent

hearth of early agriculture and early civilization (Cradle of Civilization) most credited with Southwest Asia (Tigris and Euphrates floodplains)

First agricultural revolution

dating back 10,000 years, when humans achieved plant and animal domestication

Second agricultural revolution

: improved methods of cultivation, harvesting, and storage of food that started in the

          Middle Ages and THEN benefited from the Industrial Revolution with the use of machines and new technology

 

effects of Second Agricultural Revolution:

·         better diets

·         longer life expectancies

·         increase in population

·         more people available to work in factories

Green revolution (third agricultural revolution)

high yield seeds (hybrid and/or GMOs), increased use of 

                                                                                       chemicals, mechanized farming, and elaborate irrigation systems

 

positive impact:

·         increase in food supply

·         more crops grown on same size land

·         improvement in varieties

 

negative impact (population and environment):

·         destroying local land and traditional modes of agriculture production

·         decreasing biodiversity (hybrid seeds diminish local plant diversity)

impact of chemicals

Bid-rent theory

·         theory that shows what various land users are prepared and able to pay for access to the center market (CBD)

·         the further from the center market (CBD), the lower the cost for a site

·         intensive and extensive farming practices are in part by land costs

·         extension of the von Thünen model

feedlots/Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs):

animals kept and raised in confined spaces and given hormones and/or antibiotics and/or fattening grains to prepare them for slaughter at a much quicker pace than traditional forms  e.g. cattle, swine, poultry

Von thunen model

explains what economic activities are located where and why

 

·         explains the location of agricultural activities by emphasizing the importance of

transportation costs associated with distance from the market

·         describes what should be grown where in relation to the market

·         illustrates the relationship between land cost and transportation cost

·         distributes various farming activities into concentric rings around a central market city

·         regions of specialty farming do not always conform to concentric rings

Desrtification

process by which fertile land becomes desert as a result of human activity (inappropriate agriculture/overgrazing)

Soil salinization

process by which the amount of salt increases in the soil (irrigation)

Agricultural biotechnology

the use of scientific tools and techniques to modify plants/animals