apes unit 4 - nutrition and urbanization

Soil ecosystems:

• Detritus - when partially decomposed it becomes humus (broken down biomass); a soil ecosystem is a positive feedback system
• Detritus feeders - consume dead and decaying plant and animal components, as well as their excreta
• Mineral particles - particles in a mineral processing plant are never a single size but consist of many different sizes

Soil formation:

Physical weathering (the process that breaks rocks apart without changing their chemical composition.): hammering rocks, expansion and contraction by heating and cooling, freeze and thaw, river sort rocks; glaciers do not

Chemical weathering (interaction with chemicals to change the composition of the rock): attacks minerals in rocks (least stable), quartz is most stable

Biological weathering: the weakening of rocks because of plants and animals, for example, a rabbit can burrow into a crack in a rock making it bigger and eventually splitting the rock, or a plant may grow in a crack in a rock and, as its roots grow, cause the crack to widen.

Positive feedback system: occurs to increase the change or output

Soil profile:

• O horizon: humus (surface littering, decomposing plant matter
• A horizon: topsoil (mixed humus, minerals resistant to leaching)
• E horizon: zone of leaching (less humans minerals resistant to leaching)
• B horizon: subsoil (accumulated of leached minerals like iron and aluminum oxides)
• C horizon: weathered parent material (partly broken down minerals)

Soil: mix of rock/living components. Sand, silt, and clay

Loam: is a mixture of all 3 of the best components sand silt and clay

Soil triangle: It compares the composition of particles to determine soil type it is used to classify the texture of a soil.

How soil texture effects…

Water infiltration - water moves more quickly through large pores of sandy soil than it does through small pores of clayey soil, especially if clay is compacted and has little or no structure or aggregation.

Water holding capacity - Soils with smaller particles (silt and clay) have a larger surface area than those with larger sand particles, and a large surface area allows a soil to hold more water. In other words, a soil with a high percentage of silt and clay particles, which describes fine soil, has a higher water-holding capacity.

Nutrient holding capacity: coarser soils generally have a lesser ability to hold and retain nutrients than finer soils

Aeration (filled with air, the purpose is it allows air, water and nutrients to penetrate the soil): Timely aeration can improve soil texture and improve water holding capacity.

Work ability: if the soil is hard and stiff you wont be able to do what needs to be done in order to better the soil

How does salt affect soil and plant growth?

-If the level of salts in the soil water is too high, water may flow from the plant roots back into the soil. This results in dehydration of the plant, causing yield decline or even death of the plant.

Infiltration is a process where one thing passes into another.

Soil porosity: refers to the fraction of the total soil volume that is taken up by the pore space

The permeability of soil describes how water (or other liquid) and air are able to move through the soil.

Leaching is just the process of extracting a substance from a solid material that has come into contact with a liquid.

Dust bowl is when the soil was super dry it created horrible winds and with the friction on the soil and wind it created these horrible dust storms.

What does N P K stand for? The proportion of three plant nutrients in order: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)

Physical soil test: A physical soil test identifies the texture and structure of soil, giving insight on its suitability for agriculture or building.

Chemical soil test: A test in which plants are tested for chemicals and then removed if they do have them.

Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the impact of water or wind detaches and removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate.

Irrigation: Supply of water to land or crops to keep it growing

Over-cultivation: Overuse of the soil by over cropping the land.

Overgrazing: Grazing too many livestock for too long on the land, so it is unable to recover its vegetation.

Water logging: The natural flooding and over-irrigation that brings water at underground levels to the surface.

Effects of erosion: Reduced ability of the soil to store water and nutrients.

Soil conservation is the protection of soil from erosion and other types of deterioration, so as to maintain soil fertility and productivity; so they can continue to use it

Conservation tillage: Its a system that creates good soil environments for growing crops and that conserves soil. Water and energy sources thrive when the reduction in the tillage reduces.

Terracing: Soil conservation to prevent rainfall runoff on sloping land from accumulating and causing serious erosion

Contour farming: Planting crops and other farm operations by the contour of the field slope

Gully reclamation is the process of reinstating and improving land that has been disturbed by excess runoff back to its original condition and preventing further damage to it.

Windbreaks: The reduction in wind speed behind a windbreak modifies the environmental conditions

Agroforesty: Land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland

Riparian buffer strips: The main purpose is to protect water quality

Forest farming: grows and protects high valued crops under forest canopy; which is adjusted from crop to crop (the shade level)

Agriculture: Producing crops, bettering soil, raising livestock

Traditional subsistence: Farming where all crops and livestock are used for farmer and farmers family, if any left it would go for sale or trade

Intensive farming: Focuses on investing a lot of resources and labor into small tracts of land in order to increase yield.

Monoculture: Practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time.

Polyculture: practice of growing more than one crop species in the same space, at the same time. In doing this, polyculture attempts to mimic the diversity of natural ecosystems.

Polyvarietal cultivation: a plot of land is planted with several varieties of the same crop

Irrigation: Any means used by humans to bring water to land

Irrigation Systems:

• Floor irrigation- when water is pumped or carried to fields and allowed to flow over the field
• Drip irrigation- when water is sent through pipes with holes in them (uses 25% less h2o)
• Spray irrigation- Water pumped through pipes at high pressure
• Furrow irrigation- water enters the field by channels or furrows made between to two rows of crops such as tomatoes/vegetables

The green revolution:

• Uses primarily monocultures
• Introduced new high yielding crops into India, Mexico, China, and Africa
• Increased intensity and frequency of cropping
• Selectively bred to use the amount of h20 and fertilizer available in area

3 main grains: Rice, corn, wheat

Under nutrition: Not enough food to meet basic needs

Malnourished: Deficiencies in key nutrients such as proteins and calories

Over nutrition: Food intake exceeds energy use, too much

Food security: Every person should have access to enough food for a healthy life

Famine: Severe shortage of food in an area leading to mass starvation with deaths, economic instability and social disruption

Iron:

• A components of hemoglobin that transports oxygen in the blood
• Low iron causes anemia

Iodine:

• For functioning of thyroid gland to regulate rate of metabolism
• Low iodine causes stunted growth, mental challenges and a goiter

Vitamin A - low amount causes

• Susceptibility to childhood infectious diseases
• Blindness

Cafos- They are feed lots

Negative side of cafos: polluting ground and surface water, CAFOs also contribute to the reduction of air quality in areas surrounding industrial farms.

Positive side of cafos: When properly managed, located, and monitored, CAFOs can provide a low-cost source of meat, milk, and eggs

A insect vector is an insect or animal that transmits a disease to other animals or humans

A pesticide treadmill is the over use of pesticide, they keep using it and using it causing it to slowly gain immunity to it.

FIFRA- prohibits registration of pesticides that generally pose unreasonable risks to people, including agricultural workers, or the environment.

Integrated pest management (IPM) - process you can use to solve pest problems while minimizing risks to people and the environment.