apes c7 (unit 5: land and water use)

  • ASSUME THAT IF YOU SEE A TERM AND A COLON IT NEEDS TO BE A FLASHCARD (FOR EXAMPLE LAND:)

  • Tragedy of the Commons

    • an example that set the tone for modern conservation (the management of a resource so it doesn’t get used more than it can regrow)

    • preservation: maintenance of species or ecosystem in order to ensure their perpetuation, with no concern as to their potential monetary value)

  • ecosystem capital: the term that refers to when humans are using a resource for some sort of gain

  • renewable resources: can be generated quickly

  • nonrenewable: can’t be renewed quickly (minerals, fossil fuels)

  • consumption of natural resources=day-to-day use of environmental resources

  • production of resources=use of sources for profit

AGRICULTURE

  • traditional subsistence agriculture: families growing crops for themselves, human labor to plant and harvest

  • slash and burn: vegetation cut down and burned for crop usage, leads to deforestation

  • green revolution: farming mechanization and crop yields boom

    • fertilizers and pesticides damage ecosystems even though they help with crop loss

  • integrated pest management (IPM): keep pest population down through natural insect predators, mulch, etc. without using chemicals (better for enviro)

  • irrigation

    • in some farms, salinization: salt build-up from irrigation, occurs. as a result, farmers flood the fields to move the salt out, which depletes the aquifers water is coming from

      • leads to land degradation

    • furrow irrigation: cutting furrows between crop rows and filling with water. downside: evaporation and runoff

    • flood irrigation: used to fix salinization, downside: same as for furrow

    • spray irrigation: pumping water into spray nozzles but requires energy to run and is expensive

    • drip irrigation: gives roots water directly and uses as little water as possible

    • ^these methods all use (and waste) A BUNCH OF WATER

  • GMO crops

    • corn, soybeans, cotton, potatoes, apples, etc.

    • GMOs may affect planet in the future and discourage biodiversity, even though they aim to improve plants

    • monoculture: just one type of plant in large area

  • soil problems!

    • soil structure (the extent to which soil aggregates or clumps) is important

      • soil aggregates are formed and held together by clay, organic matter, etc.

      • soil is nonrenewable and agriculture breaks down soil and leaves it hard and infertile

      • crop rotation: different crops are planted in each growing season

      • polyculture: planting multiple crops on land to increase biodiversity

    • soil erosion removes valuable topsoil and can put it in water and also not help the farmers who need soil. humans have intensified this problem!!

    • soil conservation techniques:

      • using compost/plant residue to increase organic matter in soil

      • organic agriculture, so using more environmentally friendly methods to enhance soil fertility and control pests

      • modified tilling practices to reduce soil breakup (keeps healthy soil aggregates)

      • using wind barriers (trees) to prevent wind erosion (windbreaks)

      • contour plowing--rows of crops plowed across a hillside to prevent erosion that occurs when rows are cut up and down a slope

      • terracing reduces soil runoff from slops

      • no-tilling—not breaking up the soil before planting

      • perennial crops: crops that grow back without replanting each year

    • crop rotation:

      • intercropping/strip cropping: planting bands of different crops in the field

      • green manure: using plants as mulch

the livestock business/deforestation

  • CAFOs (concentrated feeding operations) confine animals to reduce costs in prep for slaughter. CAFOs are worse than free-range grazing because the animal waste as a result pollutes water

  • deforestation: clearing out trees

    • high deforestation in developing countries because land is being cleared for pastures and farms

    • creates erosion because root structure is taken away (which is bad for soil!!)

    • tropical areas soil becomes more and more depleted

    • cutting and burning trees pollutes enviro

  • sustainable foresting:

    • old growth forests have never been cut, second growth have but have grown back

    • 95 percent of forests are naturally occurring and the remaining are tree farms

    • economically, trees need to grow back fast enough for people to use them

    • silviculture: management of forest plantations for purpose of harvesting

    • clear-cutting: removing all trees in an area, bad for habitat

    • selective cutting: removing select trees

    • shelter-wood cutting: mature trees are cut over a period of time

    • trees and plants being planted together creates a symbiotic relationship

    • greenbelts: tree belts near where people live which increase quality of life

natural events (that create problems for humans) in forests

  • trees with disease can a) die and b) give humans disease

  • humans clear out infected trees by removing them and also engineering pest-resistance products to prevent disease

  • controlled/prescribed burns: small fires that are controlled to lower the amount of fuel (underbrush)

  • fire types:

  • surface fires—only burn forests’ underbrush and help protect the forest from other fires by getting underbrush out of the way

  • crown fires—spread quickly, especially where surface fires haven’t occurred recently, major threat

  • ground fires—smoldering fires in bogs or swamps, burn underground

water use

  • water usage has gone up heavily since human activity

  • interbasin transfer: transporting water through pipes across very long distances

  • groundwater: water from below the ground coming from aquifers (underground rock or earth that holds water)

  • compacted aquifers: a phenomenon that occurs when the mineral grains making up an aquifer collapse on each other and the material can no longer hold much water, making a source limited

  • water-scarce countries have limited water (found in developing countries)

  • who gets what?

    • in the US we use way too much water

    • riparian right: right of people who have legal rights to a water source area

    • prior appropriation: right to people who historically used the water in an area (squatter’s rights)

  • we need to invest more research into desalinating water so it can be reused

  • Tragedy of Free Access: term that refers to the shift from catching fish only 12 miles out to having nations get to catch 200 miles out because there are less fish left

  • how fish?

    • capture fisheries: capturing fish in the wild

    • by-catch: species of fish, mammals, and birds that are caught during fishing operations but not the target fish, through…

      • drift nets

      • long-lining (line with a hook)

      • bottom traveling

  • how MANY fish?

    • aquaculture/fish farming: raising fish in capitivty

      • cons: could be released accidentally and contaminate native gene pool

      • pros: cheaper and saving the enviro

  • catching fish can also trap dolphins and whales!!

MINING

  • humans mine metallic minerals (zinc) for metals and nonmetallic minerals to be use in their natural state (salt, gems)

  • ore: rock or mineral from which a valuable substance is extracted

  • mining concerns are not about depleting resources, but more about what damage is done during the extraction process. environments are disrupted, topsoil is removed, and land erodes

  • mining also requires lots of energy use and pollutes the air

  • mine restoration projects—help mines manage pollutants

    • waste material is gangue, piles of gangues are called tailings

  • surface mining—removing large portions of rock and soil to get to the good stuff

  • strip mining—getting rid of vegetation to mine something close to the surface (coal)

  • shaft mining—vertical tunnels excavate minerals that are underground

housing/community

  • often people move to suburbs in an event called suburban sprawl to get out of the city

  • when people live in big cities they prevent water from reaching the soil, which is needed to prevent salinization

  • housing creates waste/landfills

  • brownfields: urban areas that contain abandoned factories or former residential areas

  • Transporation alternatives: less cars, subway, greenbikes, city buses

  • megacities are cities with 10mil + people and grew really fast so they are crowded and polluted

  • ecological footprint

    • used to describe enviro impact of a person or group

    • IPAT MODEL: describes impact humans have on environment, I=P x T x A

    • p= population size, a=affluence, t=technology level

economics and resource utilization

  • resources can have tangible (physical value like shelter) and intangible (not physical like recreational opportunity)

  • cost-benefit analysis takes both ^ into play when deciding what to do with a space (should we cut down the trees or keep them) which can be rly hard!!

  • marginal costs: costs that seem small like cutting down one tree

  • externalities: unanticipated positive or negative results of using a resource