AP Environmental Science: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Pest Management

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering agricultural systems, CAFO emissions, grazing techniques, fisheries and aquaculture, global atmospheric circulation, forestry methods, fire ecology, and pest management strategies.

CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)

An intensive agricultural livestock operation where high densities of animals are confined and fed, characterized by high output and lower direct food costs, but associated with large manure lagoons, greenhouse gas emissions, antibiotic use, and runoff pollution.

Hydrogen Sulfide ($H_2S$)

A toxic gas with a rotten egg odor produced by the anaerobic bacterial decomposition of protein and sulfur-containing organic matter in animal waste; exposure can cause inflammation of eye and respiratory membranes, olfactory neuron loss, and death.

Ammonia ($NH_3$)

A colorless air pollutant with a sharp, pungent odor formed when microbes decompose undigested organic nitrogen compounds in manure; it acts as a respiratory irritant and causes chemical burns, severe cough, and chronic lung disease.

Particulate Matter (Agricultural Emission)

Airborne particles composed of dried manure, feed materials, pollen, bacteria, fungi, skin cells, silicates, animal dander, and poultry feathers that cause chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function, and organic dust toxic syndrome.

Continuous Grazing

A livestock management system providing animals unlimited access to a single pasture, requiring low overhead and minimal labor but resulting in high forage loss from trampling, uneven manure distribution, weed growth, and lower forage yield.

Simple Rotational Grazing

A grazing management strategy in which cattle are periodically moved between a few pastures, producing an estimated $20\%$ increase in forage yield and pasture condition compared to continuous grazing while allowing forage rest and regrowth.

Intensive Rotational Grazing

A system of moving cattle frequently across many small pastures, yielding a $30\text{--}50\%$ increase in forage production and utilization per acre, more even manure distribution, and better brush control, but requiring high management and initial fence and water costs.

Multispecies Grazing

The practice of grazing two or more livestock species (such as cattle and sheep) on the same pastures simultaneously or in close succession within a season to diversify income, enhance weed control, optimize forage consumption, and break parasite cycles.

By-catch

Non-target marine species caught unintentionally during commercial fishing operations; by-catch accounts for an estimated $300{,}000$ whale and dolphin deaths each year globally.

Purse Seine

A commercial fishing method that uses a large surrounding net drawn tight at the bottom by a drawstring-like line to enclose entire schools of open-water fish.

Bivalve and Seaweed Aquaculture Mitigation

The cultivation of shellfish and macroalgae that improves coastal water quality by extracting excess nitrogen and phosphorus, increasing water clarity via filter-feeding, and mitigating local ocean acidification by absorbing $CO_2$ and producing oxygen.

Coriolis Effect

The apparent deflection of prevailing winds and moving objects caused by Earth's rotation, turning winds toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

The low-pressure equatorial belt where the northeast trade winds and southeast trade winds converge, driven by intense solar radiation and rising warm air masses.

Green Revolution

A major twentieth-century agricultural transformation comprised of biochemical innovations (hybrid seeds, fertilizers, pesticides), mechanical developments (pump irrigation, tractors), and social reforms (loans, land access) that doubled global crop yields.

Monoculture

The agricultural practice of cultivating a single crop species over a large area, maximizing short-term harvest efficiency and machinery use but elevating risks of pesticide resistance, pest outbreaks, biodiversity decline, and soil nutrient depletion.

Crop Rotation

The systematic planting of different crops in recurring succession on the same land to replenish soil nutrients naturally, disrupt insect pest and weed lifecycles, and reduce the need for synthetic inputs.

Permaculture

A sustainable, holistic agricultural design philosophy modeled on natural ecosystems that emphasizes waste reduction, renewable energy, natural pest management, and soil and water conservation over industrial mass-production efficiency.

Synthetic Fertilizer

Inorganic plant nutrients manufactured synthetically from petroleum and fossil inputs; provides rapid water-soluble nutrient delivery formulated to specific ratios but lacks organic matter and micronutrients and carries elevated risks of chemical burn, leaching, and runoff.

Organic Fertilizer

Soil amendments derived from byproducts of living organisms (e.g., manure, compost); contains micronutrients and organic matter that improve soil structure and microbial activity while releasing nutrients slowly with reduced runoff potential.

Contour Plowing

Plowing and planting across the slope following the natural contour lines of the land to form water breaks that slow surface runoff and reduce topsoil erosion from heavy rainfall.

Terracing

The construction of step-like, level ridges cut into steep hillsides to retain water and significantly prevent soil erosion during heavy rains.

No-Till Farming

An agricultural technique that inserts seeds directly into undisturbed soil without plowing, leaving crop residues on the surface to retain moisture, preserve soil structure, and minimize erosion.

Cover Crop

Crops, such as soybeans or other legumes, planted primarily to cover and protect the ground between harvest seasons, suppress weeds, retain moisture, and restore vital nutrients to depleted soil.

Windbreaks

Linear rows of trees or shrubs planted along the edges of agricultural fields to reduce wind velocity across the topsoil, protecting crops from mechanical damage and limiting wind erosion.

Alley Cropping

An agroforestry system where agricultural crops are cultivated in the alleys between widely spaced rows of trees or shrubs, offering wind protection, shade, and improved soil fertility.

Threshing

A post-harvest mechanical or manual process of separating edible cereal grains from their holding pods or stalks.

Winnowing

A post-harvest separation method that relies on air or gravity to blow or separate lighter chaff, husk, and debris away from heavier harvested grains.

Clear-Cutting

A timber harvesting method where all the trees in a designated forest stand are removed simultaneously; delivers maximum short-term profit and timber volume, but causes habitat fragmentation, loss of biodiversity, and severe runoff and erosion on steep topography.

Selective Cutting

The intermediate cutting of mature, diseased, or selected trees individually or in small groups, allowing younger trees to mature while preserving structural biodiversity and causing far less ecological disruption.

Prescribed Fire

A managed fire intentionally ignited under specified weather conditions to consume built-up forest litter, stimulate seed germination, suppress competing hardwood vegetation, recycle nutrients to the soil, and lower wildfire danger.

Grass Stage (Longleaf Pine)

An early growth adaptation of $Pinus\ palustris$ where the seedling looks like a clump of grass while developing an extensive underground taproot system; dense needles shield the terminal growth bud from ground fires.

Bottlebrush Stage (Longleaf Pine)

The rapid vertical growth stage of longleaf pine where the tree bolts upwards without branching, quickly lifting the terminal growth bud above the reach of surface flames.

Biological Pest Control

A chemical-free pest control strategy that utilizes living organisms—such as natural predators, parasites, or bio-effectors—for the targeted management of unwanted insect or vermin populations.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

A science-based pest control framework incorporating five sequential steps (identify/monitor, evaluate, prevent, action, and monitor) using biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools in combination to keep pest populations below economically damaging thresholds.

Economic Threshold (IPM)

The pest population density level at which the cost of crop damage exceeds the cost of implementing curative control measures, signaling that action must be initiated.

Old Generation Pesticides

Early chemical pesticides characterized by broad-spectrum activity, lack of selectivity, high dosage requirements ($0.5\text{ to }2\,\text{kg ai/ha}$), severe non-target toxicity, and long environmental persistence.

New Generation Pesticides

Modern pesticides characterized by narrow-spectrum action, high selectivity, very low required doses ($5\text{ to }100\,\text{g ai/ha}$), low toxicity toward mammals and natural enemies, and specialized sites of action.

Organochlorines

A synthetic class of organic pesticides containing five or more chlorine atoms (including DDT, lindane, chlordane, and endosulfan) that disrupt insect nerve ion channels; they are non-polar, accumulate in fatty tissues, and exhibit high environmental persistence.

Organophosphates

Synthetic organic pesticides (such as malathion, parathion, and chlorpyrifos) containing phosphate groups that inhibit the vital neurotransmitter enzyme acetylcholinesterase, leading to nervous system disruption in pests.

Carbamates

Pesticides derived from carbamic acid containing a methyl group, an alcohol group, and a hydrogen atom (e.g., carbaryl, carbofuran, aldicarb) that act as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

Pyrethroids

Synthetic chemical insecticides (such as permethrin, cypermethrin, and fenvalerate) manufactured as analogs of natural pyrethrins extracted from chrysanthemum flowers.

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)

A persistent organochlorine pesticide widely applied in agriculture during the 1950s and 1960s; banned in the United States in 1972 due to environmental persistence exceeding 100 years, bioaccumulation in aquatic and terrestrial food webs, and endocrine-disrupting activity in animals.

Systemic Pesticides

Pesticides (such as imidacloprid) that are absorbed into and translocated throughout the vascular tissues of a treated plant, poisoning insects that feed on plant fluids or tissues.

Contact Pesticides

Pesticides (such as paraquat) that kill targeted pests exclusively through direct external physical contact rather than systemic absorption or ingestion.