LEAPES

1. 
   Describe the pesticide treadmill effect

   • The overuse of pesticides can lead to some pests becoming resistant

   • The pesticide artificially selects for pests with resistance by killing all the non-resistant individuals

2. Describe the pros and cons of clear cutting

   • Pro - efficient and cost effective

   • Cons - soil erosion, increased soil and stream temp., flooding and landslides

3. Describe how aquifers become depleted and a consequence of this in coastal areas

   • Aquifers become depleted when more water is used (irrigation, industrial activity, residential use) than is recharged (rain)

   • Saltwater Intrusion: excessive pumping near coast lowers water table pressure, allowing saltwater to seep into groundwater

4. Describe the following methods of preventing soil erosion/degradation:

   • Contour plowing - Plowing parallel to natural slopes of the land instead of down slopes prevents water runoff & soil erosion.  Forms mini terraces that catch water running off, conserving soil & water

   • Terracing - Cutting flat “platforms” of soil into a steep slope.  Flatness of terraces catches water & prevents it from becoming runoff and eroding soil

   • Perennial crops - Crops that live year round and are harvested numerous times.  Longer, more established roots & prevention of bare soil between harvest

   • Wind breaks - Using trees or other plants to block the force of the wind from eroding topsoil.  Can be used as a source of firewood, fruit (income).  Can provide habitat for pollinators & other species

   • No till - Leaving leftover crop remains in soil instead of tilling under.  Adds org. matter to soil (nutrients, soil cover, moisture).  Prevents erosion from loosened soil

   • Intercropping (strip cropping) - Alternating rows of dense crops (hay, wheat) with rows of less dense crops (corn, soy, cotton) to prevent runoff from eroding soil from less dense rows of crops

5. Describe the inefficiency of meat with respect to 

   • Energy - all of the energy needed to plant, grow, harvest plants to feed to animals plus the energy needed to bring water to animals, house animals, and slaughter and package animals

   • Land - all of the energy needed to grow plants to feed animals plus room the animals take up

   • Water - all of the water for crops that animals eat plus the water the animals drink

6. Describe the benefits of crop rotation

   • Rotating crops (planting a different crop each season) can prevent pests from becoming established since it disrupts their preferred food choice

   • Also disrupts weed growth since diff. crops can be planted at different times, preventing bare soil from being taken over by weeds

7. Compare the selective cutting and clearcutting

   • Selective cutting includes only cutting some of the trees in an area (biggest & oldest) to preserve habitat (biodiv.) and topsoil

     • Selectively removing diseased trees to prevent spread of infection through entire forest

   • Clearcutting involves removing all trees and vegetation from an area

8. Describe the pros and cons of IPM

   • Pros- 

     • Reduces death & mutation of non-target species

       • Ex: intersex frogs (atrazine)

                  Eagle death (DDT)

                              Bee die offs (glyphosate)

• Reduces effects on human consumers of produce

  • Ex: many pesticides are carcinogens (cause cancer)

• Reduces contamination of surface & ground water by agricultural runoff with pesticides

• Cons- 

  • Can be more time consuming & costly than just crop dusting pesticides

    • Ex: researching specific pests & planting numerous species of crops

9. Describe urbanization and its drawbacks

   • Removing of vegetation to convert natural landscape to city (urban)

   • Drawbacks:

     • Replaces native soil/vegetation with impervious surfaces which increases runoff

     • Increases CO₂ emissions

     • Urban sprawl

     • Blight

10. Describe the consequences of urban runoff

    • Decreases groundwater recharge

    • Increases pollutants entering local water bodies

      • Excessive nutrients (N,P) in bodies of water can lead to eutrophication (a decrease in dissolved oxygen in water leading to lower biodiversity)

      • Excessive salt (plant and insect deaths)

      • Excessive sediment (turbidity, less photosynthesis)

      • Excessive pesticides (kills non target species)

      • Excessive oil and gasoline (suffocates fish/kills aquatic insects)

11. Describe how to remediate urban runoff

    • Permeable pavement - Specially designed to allow stormwater to infiltrate & recharge ground water.  Decreases runoff, decreasing pollutants carried into storm drains & into local surface water.  Decreases likelihood of flooding during heavy rainfall.  More costly than traditional pavement

    • Rain garden - Gardens planted in urban areas, especially surrounding a storm drain.  Decreases runoff by allowing it to soak into garden soil surrounding storm drain.  Decreases likelihood of flooding during heavy rainfall.  Creates hab. for pollinators, sense of place & stores CO2

    • Public transit - More cars on the road = more pollutants on streets to runoff into storm drains & local waters (Tire pieces, motor oil, gasoline, antifreeze).  More cars on the road = more parking lots (impervious surfaces) and more stormwater runoff.  Public transit decreases urban runoff, pollutants on road, CO2 emissions & even traffic!

    • Building up - Building vertically decreases impervious surfaces (decreasing urban runoff).  Can be combined with “green roof” or rooftop gardens to further decrease runoff.  Green roof also sequesters CO2 and filters air pollutants out

      • Plants absorb NO2, PM, & other pollutants into stomata & store in tissue or soil

12. Describe the pros and cons of CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations)

    • Also called feedlots - densely crowded method where animals are fed grain (corn) to raise them to as quickly as possible

    • Pros- 

      • Maximizes land use and profit (most meat production per/unit of area)

      • Minimizes cost of meat for consumers

    • Cons- 

      • Given antibiotics & growth hormones to prevent disease outbreak & speed meat production

      • Animals produce large volume of waste which can contaminate nearby surface or groundwater

      • Produces large amounts of CO2, CH4 (methane), and N2O (greenhouse gasses → climate change)

13. Describe the steps of mine reclamation

    • Filling of empty mine shafts/hole 

    • Restoring original contours of land

    • Returning topsoil, with acids, metals, and tailings removed

    • Replanting of native plants to restore community to as close to original state as possible

14. Describe the pros and cons of pesticide use

    • Pros - Increases yield and profits with fewer plants lost to pests

    • Cons - Can wash off crops in runoff and kill or harm non-target species in local soil or waters (bees especially)

      • Ex: DDT thinned shells of bird eggs, especially eagles

      • Atrazine turns amphibians and fish intersex

15. Describe the benefits and drawbacks of aquaculture

    • Pros- 

      • Requires only small amount of water, space, and fuel

      • Reduces risk of Fishery collapse (90% population decline in a fishery)

      • Doesn’t take up any land space (compared to beef, pork, chicken)

    • Cons- 

      • High density produces high concentration of waste (e. coli & eutrophication risks)

      • High density increases disease risk, which can be transmitted to wild populations as well

      • May introduce non-native species or GMOs to local ecosystem if captive fish escape

      • Fish are fed antibiotics which can contaminate water via their waste

16. Describe the relationship between human population and resource depletion

    • As human pop. grows, resource depletion grows

    • Resources are harvested unsustainably from natural ecosystems & degrade ecosystem health

      • More paper (lumber) = deforestation

      • More food = soil erosion, deforestation, groundwater depletion

      • More travel = FF mining = air, water, soil pollution, habitat destruction

17. Describe the effects of clear cutting and deforestation

    • Clearcutting- 

      • Soil erosion

      • Increased soil and stream temp

      • Flooding and landslides

    • Deforestation- 

      • Reduces air filtering and carbon storing services

      • Cutting trees down releases CO2 from decomposition of leftover organic material

      • Slash & burn method of clearing land for agriculture by cutting trees & burning them releases CO2, N2O and water vapor into the atmosphere (all GHGs)

18. Describe why the TotC happens

    • When no one owns the resource (land, water, air) no one directly suffers the negative consequences of depleting, degrading, or overusing it

    • People assume others will overuse the resource if they don’t

    • There is no penalty for overusing, degrading, polluting many public resources 

19. Describe fire suppression and prescribed burns

    • Fire Suppression- 

      • Stopping Natural Fires 

        • Fire suppression is the practice of putting out all natural forest fires as soon as they start

      • Leads to more biomass buildup

        • Putting out fires immediately leads to more dry biomass buildup

        • Makes future fires worse

      • Monitoring Instead

        • Close monitoring can prevent fire damage & worse fires in the future 

    • Prescribed burns

      • Dead biomass builds up 

        • Fuel for large forest fires

        • Stored nutrients trapped in dead biomass

        • Dead trees = susceptible to disease & pest spread

      • Small, controlled fires burn lots of dead biomass

        • Uses up dead biomass (fuel) preventing larger forest fires later

      • Promotes nutrient recycling

        • Nutrients in dead biomass are recycled → new growth