AP Human Geography Unit 5: Agriculture Key Terms

Mediterranean Climate

A warm climate that tales place in mid-latitudes such as the southern coast of Europe, the northern coast of Africa, and the pacific coast of the United States.

Tropical Climate

A climate that is uniformly warm throughout the year as well as being very humid due to heavy rainfall. These climates are located in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South/Southwest Asia.

Intensive Agriculture

Practices in which farmers or ranchers use large amounts of inputs (energy,fertilizers, labor, or machines) to maximize yield

Market Gardening

When fruits and vegetables are near an urban market and sold to local suppliers, stores, or restaurants

Plantation Agriculture

A type of intensive agriculture that falls under colonialism. Occurs when commercial agriculture replaces subsistence farming. It is accomplished through plantations.

Mixed Crop/Livestock System

An intensive integrated system that demonstrates an interdependence between crops and animals

Extensive Agriculture

A practice of agriculture in which one uses fewer inputs and it typically results in less yields

Shifting Cultivation

Type of subsistence extensive farming where farmers grow crops on a piece of land for a year or two and move to another field when the soil loses fertility.

Nomadic Herding

The continual movement of livestock in search of forage for animals

Ranching

The commercial grazing of animals confined to a specific area

Rural Settlement Patterns

Sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. Typically have an agricultural character.

Clustered Settlement Pattern

Settlements with groups of homes located near each other in a village, fostering a strong sense of place and often the sharing of services. Villagers raise crops and animals in fields and pastures around the settlement.

Dispersed settlement pattern

Pattern in which farmers lived in homes spread throughout the countryside

Linear Settlement pattern

Settlement pattern in which building and human activities are organized close to a body of water or along transportation routes

Rural Survey Methods

A type of survey method that utilizes metes & bounds, Long lots, and township & ranges

Metes & Bounds

A way plot boundaries are described when fields have irregular shapes. Metes are used for short distances and refer to specific features whereas bound cover larger areas & are based on larger features.

Township & Range

Rectangular plots of consistent size by organizing land into townships and sections. Townships are 6 miles long by 6 miles wide and are subdivided into sections which are one square mile

Long Lot

A system in which farms were long, thin sections of land that ran perpindicular to a river.

Domestication

To adapt or tame so as to be cultivated by and be beneficial to humans

Fertile Crescent

The first major hearth of agriculture in Southwest Asia. The area extends to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and continues along the Tigris and Euphrates River

Indus River Valley

A region in South Asia where the first urban revolution accured around 2200 BCE

Southeast Asia

A region of the fertile crescent which grows barley,wheat,lentils, and olives

Central America

A region where hunters first domesticated animals such as dogs and horses

Columbian Exchange

The global movement of plants and animals between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas

First Agricultural Revolution

The origin of farming as plants and animals were domesticated to create predictable food sources

Second Agricultural Revolution

Revolution that began in the 1700’s and used the advances of the Industrial Revolution to increase food supplies

Green Revolution

The advances in plant biology of the mid-20th Century

High-Yield Seed

Crops that produce more food per farming cycle than wild varieties.

Mechanized Farming

Farming Techniques that rely on machines to more efficiently produce crops.

Commodity Chain

A process used by corporations to gather resources, transform them into goods, and then transport them to consumers

Economies of Scale

An increase in efficiency to lower the per-unit production cost, resulting in greater profits

Bid-Rent Theory

Geographical economic theory that refers to how the price and demand on real estate changes as the distance towards the central business district increases

Monocropping/Monoculture

When only one crop is grown or one type of animal is raised

Commercial Agriculture

An agricultural style whose goal is to grown enough crops or raise enough livestock to sell for profit

Subsistence Agriculture

Agricultural style whose goal is to grow enough food or raise enough livestock to meet the immediate needs of the farmer and his/her family

Von Thunen’s Model

An economic model that suggested a pattern for the types of economic activity: Factories, stores, restaurants, or agriculture

Global Supply Chain

All the steps required to get a product or service to customers

Export Commodity

A commodity that is produced in one country and sold to another for export

Pollution

When humans contaminate the air, water, or land

Land Cover Change

The study of how land is used and the impact of changing land use

Desertification

Alteration of the natural vegetation in arid areas causing the land to become infertile

Soil Salinization

When salt from water used by plants remains in the soil, caused by improper use of irrigation or water high in salt content

Conservation

The sustainable use and management of Earth’s natural resources to meet human needs

Slash and Burn Agriculture

An early agricultural practice and type of shifting cultivation. Takes place when all vegetation in an area of forest is cut down and burned in place

Terrace Farming

An early human alteration of the landscape in which farmers built a series of steps into the side of a hill

Irrigation

The process of applying controlled amounts of water to crops

Deforestation

The removal of large tracts of forest

Pastoral Nomadism

Extensive agricultural activity that involves groups of people moving often and raising animals as their main means of survival

Biotechnolgy

A form of technology that uses living organisms to modify products, modify plants and animals, or to develop other microrganisms

Genetically Modified Organisms

Plants or animals that scientists have modified by extracting genes of one species and inserting them into the DNA of other species

Aquaculture

The practice of raising and harvesting fish and other forms of food that live in the water

Sustainability

Using the Earth’s resources while not causing permanent damage to the environment

Biodiversity

An area where different groups began to domesticate plants and animals

Fertilizers

A substance added to soil or water to increase productivity

Pesticide

Chemicals that are used to treat agricultural crops so as to kill any insects or animals that might try to damage the crop

Urban Farming

The production of farm goods within an urban area with the goal of producing locally grown food

Community-Supported Agriculture

A particular network, or association of individuals who have pledged to support one or more local farms

Value-Added Specialty Crops

Goods that have some other product in them or item attached to them to make them unique and higher priced

Fair Trade

An effort to promote higher incomes for producers and more sustainable farming practices

Local Food Movement

Seeking out food produced nearby

Food Insecurity

When households lack access to adequate food because of limited money or other resources

Food Desert

A neighborhood where residents have little to no access to healthy and affordable food

suburbanization

The growth of cities outside of an urban area

Carrying Capacity

The ability of the land to sustain a certain number of people