GEI Exam 4

Question 1

When did agricultural revolution begin?

Answer 1

10,000 years ago

Question 2

humans select crop varieties and domesticate animals

Answer 2

artificial selection

Question 3

What foods do we eat?

Answer 3

dozen types of grass (mostly rice, wheat, corn, and oats)

3 root crops (potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava)

20 or so fruits and vegetables

6 mammals (cow, pig, goat, sheep, deer, rabbit)

3 domestic fowl (duck, chicken, turkey)

few fish species

Question 4

What crops are grown the most in the U.S. and for what?

Answer 4

corn and soybeans (mostly livestock feed)

Question 5

How have yields changed in the last 100 years?

Answer 5

increased (ex. corn in 1900: 25 bushels/acre vs corn today: 200)

Question 6

How yields were increased in past years

Answer 6

chem. fertilizers, plant breeding, pesticides, irrigation, mechanization, large-scale farms, gov. subsidies, and high density livestock

Question 7

types of pesticides

Answer 7

insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticide

Question 8

most common herbicide in U.S.

Answer 8

Glyphosate (Roundup)

Question 9

crops genetically modified to resist glyphosate

Answer 9

Roundup-ready

Question 10

negative impacts of roundup-ready crops

Answer 10

water pollution, bioaccumulation, pesticide resistance, impacts on beneficial insects, human health risks, food residues

Question 11

major inorganic nutrients in fertilizers

Answer 11

nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium

Question 12

uses about 70% of all freshwater in U.S.

Answer 12

irrigation

Question 13

methods of irrigation

Answer 13

center-pivot, drip, flood

Question 14

negatives of irrigation

Answer 14

erosion, water scarcity, evaporation loss, fuel use

Question 15

negatives of mechanization

Answer 15

soil erosion, fossil fuel use

Question 16

erosion

Answer 16

movement of soil particles by wind or water

Question 17

forms channels and ravines in farmland

Answer 17

gully erosion

Question 18

livestock trample vegetation as they drink from streams

Answer 18

streambank erosion

Question 19

removes soil where plant cover is gone due to drought or overgrazing

Answer 19

wind erosion

Question 20

fed government provides payments for farmers to produce certain goods (low-price crops)

Answer 20

government subsidies

Question 21

animals confined in high densities and fed high calorie diets

Answer 21

high-density livestock

Question 22

prevents illness from overcrowding in HD livestock

Answer 22

antibiotics

Question 23

areas in the U.S. with limited access to nutritious, affordable food

Answer 23

food desert

Question 24

promoting biodiversity, soil health, and water conversation (reduce pesticides and synthetic fertilizers)

Answer 24

sustainable ag

Question 25

alternative to chem pesticides

growing 2 crops at the same time in alternating rows

Answer 25

intercropping

Question 26

seasonally alternating crops

Answer 26

crop rotation

Question 27

use of natural enemies to control pest populations

Answer 27

biological control

Question 28

pro: reduce soil erosion, protect soil organisms, reduce evaporation, slows organic decomp.

con: requires more herbicides

Answer 28

pros and cons of no-till

Question 29

lines of trees or shrubs that acts as windbreaks

Answer 29

shelterbelts

Question 30

plowing across a hill rather than up and down

Answer 30

contour plowing

Question 31

e.g. native grasses or legumes

protect soil from water and wind erosion

Answer 31

cover crops

Question 32

legumes that convert atmospheric N to usable through root nodules with bacteria

Answer 32

nitrogen-fixing crops

Question 33

e.g. “3 sisters” (corn, beans, squash)

Answer 33

companion planting

Question 34

plants, animals, or microbes that have had their DNA modified to produce a certain trait (aka biotech or genetic engineering)

Answer 34

GMOS

Question 35

DNA comes from unrelated organism to produce desired trait

Answer 35

transgenic

Question 36

higher yields, drought resistance, enhanced nutrition, resistance to pathogens, longer shelf-life, livestock grow faster or produce more

Answer 36

benefits of GMO

Question 37

bacteria used to give plants ability to produce insecticide

Answer 37

Bacillus thuringiensis

Question 38

health risks from GMOS are

Answer 38

negligible

Question 39

biggest biotech company in the world (patents)

Answer 39

Monsanto (Bayer owned)

Question 40

coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear

Answer 40

non-renewable energy

Question 41

solar, wind, hydroelectric, and biomass

Answer 41

renewable energy

Question 42

4 major sectors that consume energy

Answer 42

industrial, transportation, residential, commercial

Question 43

amount of energy that comes from fossil fuels in the U.S. (2015)

Answer 43

80%