F: Land and Water Use

Clear-cutting

It occurs is when all of the trees in an area are cut at the same time

Deforestation

It is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas, which are then used for grain and grass fields mining, petroleum extraction, fuel wood cutting, commercial logging, tree plantations, or urban development

Agricultural productivity

It implies greater output with less input

Overgrazing

A plant is considered overgrazed when it is re-grazed before the roots recover, which can reduce root growth by up to 90%

Fertilizers

It provide plants with the nutrients needed to grow healthy and strong

Inorganic Fertilizers

A fertilizer mined from mineral deposits or manufactured from synthetic compounds

Organic Fertilizers

Any Any fertilizer that originates from an organic source, such as bone meal, compost, fish extracts, manure, or seaweed

Genetically modified foods

These are foods produced from organisms both animal and plant) that have had changes introduced into their DNA

Rangelands

These are native grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

It is a widely used method of growing food or clearing land in which wild or forested land is clear-cut and any remaining vegetation is burned

Soil Erosion

It is the movement of weathered rock or soil components from one place to another and is caused by flowing water, wind, and human activity

Soil degradation

It is the decline in soil condition caused by its improper use or poor management, usually for agricultural, industrial, or urban purposes

Desertification

Productive potential of arid or semiarid land falls by at least 10% due to human activity and/or climate change

Salinization

Water that is not absorbed into the soil evaporates, leaving behind dissolved salts in topsoil

Waterlogging

Saturation of soil with water, resulting in a rise in the water table

Tillage

An agricultural method in which the surface is plowed and broken up to expose the soil, which is then smoothed and planted

Irrigation

The application of controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals and has been a necessary component of agriculture for over 5,000 years

Flood

Water is pumped or brought to the fields and is allowed to flow along the ground among the crops

Pesticides

These can be used to control pests, but their use has drawbacks

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

It is an ecologically based approach to control pests

Biological Pesticides

Living organisms used to control pests

Inorganic pesticides

These are broad-based pesticides that include arsenic, copper, lead, and mercury

Organic pesticides

These are natural poisons derived from plants such as tobacco or chrysanthemum

Pesticide resistance

It describes the decreased susceptibility of a pest population to a pesticide that was previously effective at controlling the pest

Pest species

They evolve pesticide resistance via natural selection

Pesticide Treadmill

Also known as pest traps; farmers are forced to use more and more toxic chemicals to control pesticide-resistant insects and weeds

Intercropping

A farming method that involves planting or growing more than one crop at the same time and on the same piece of land

CAFO

It is an intensive animal feeding operation in which large numbers of animals are confined in feeding pens for over 45 days a year

Aquaculture

Mariculture or fish farming

Mining

Removing mineral resource from the ground

Dredging

A method for mining below the water table and usually associated with gold mining

Mountaintop removal

Removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams and disposing of associated mining overburden in adjacent "valley fills"

Open pit

Extracting rock or minerals from the Earth by their removal from an open pit when deposits of commercially useful ore or rocks are found near the surface

Strip mining

Exposes coal by removing the soil above each coal seam

Blast

Uses explosives to break up the seam, after which the material is loaded onto conveyors and transported to a processing center

Urbanization

It refers to the movement of people from rural areas to cities and the changes that accompany it

Urban Sprawl

Also known as suburban, describesthe expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density and usually car-dependent communities

Single-use development

Separate commercial, residential, institutional, and industrial areas

Smart growth

It promotes compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, neighborhood schools, and mixed-use development with a variety of housing options to slow urban sprawl and concentrate growth in compact, walkable "urban villages."

Urban runoff

It is surface runoff of rainwater created by urbanization

Ecological Footprint

A measure of human demand on Earths ecosystems and is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planets ecological capacity to regenerate

Sustainability

It refers to the capacity for the biosphere and human civilization to coexist through the balance of resources within their environment

Sustainable agriculture

It emphasizes profitable, environmentally friendly, energy-efficient production and food systems that improve farmers' and the public's quality of life

Contour plowing

Plowing along the contours of the land in order to minimize soil erosion

No-till agriculture

Soil is left undisturbed by tillage and the residue is left on the soil surface

Strip cropping

Cultivation in which different crops are sown in alternate strips

Terracing

Make or form (sloping land) into a number of level flat areas resembling a series of steps

Mining

Can involve underground mines, drilling, room-and-pillar mining, long-wall mining, open pit, dredging, contour strip mining, and mountaintop removal.