Chapter 21 Flashcards
Conservation of the environment (36 cards)
What is Agricultural Machinery?
These are used to clear land, prepare soil and maintain, harvest and plant crops to improve efficiency.
- This allows us to use larger areas of land and improve efficiency in food production.
What are chemical fertilisers?
These fertilisers improve crop yield by providing essential nutrients and minerals to crops.
What are Pesticides?
These are chemicals that destroy agricultural pests or competitors.
What are Herbicides?
These are chemicals that destroy plants that compete with the main crop for sunlight and resources.
- This maximizes crop growth.
What are Insecticides?
These are chemicals used to destroy insects that eat and damage plants.
This improves quality and quantity of yield.
What is the use of Selective breeding to enhance crop production?
Selective breeding allow us to select desired characteristics of plants or livestock to improve agricultural output
- Examples are disease resistance or good flavour.
What is Monoculture?
Is the growth of a single species on the same specific land continuously, year after year.
What are the Advantages of Monoculture?
- Easier to manage 1 species.
- Its more efficient.
- Promotes agricultural technology
- Higher earnings
What are the Disadvantages of Monoculture?
- All organisms that feed on or compete with the monoculture are destroyed.
- There is reduced ecosystem diversity.
- Balanced life is displaced.
- Problems with insecticides and increased pest issues.
What is Livestock production?
It refers to the rearing and management of animals like cattle, sheep, poultry for meat, eggs, milk or fibre production.
What are the Advantages of Livestock production?
- It helps the economy and agricultural industry.
- It provides food security- A stable supply for the population.
What are the Disadvantages of Livestock production?
- Easier spread of disease
- Urine and Faeces of livestock may wash out of barns with water, forming Slurry. The excess nitrates enter streams which leads to Eutrophication.
- Overgrazing can result if theres too many livestock, soil becomes eroded. (INTENSIVE)
What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity refers to the variety of different species in a population.
What is a habitat?
It is the natural home of a plant or animal.
What are the reasons for habitat destruction?
- Intensive agriculture
- Increased area for housing (urbanisation) has destroyed natural habitats.
- Extraction of natural resources.
- Freshwater and marine pollution caused by waste disposal.
How can altering food webs and chains have a negative impact on Habitats?
Different species depend on eachother in food webs for sources.
Overharvesting and introducing foreign species to an ecosystem can reduce the overall health and functioning.
How does extracting natural resources affect the environment?
- Dumping extracted rocks in spoil heaps contain toxic metals. This prevents recolonisation of land.
- Open pit mining affects aquatic habitats as water can become contaminated with toxic metals.
- Oil spillages are extremely toxic, destroying habitats.
How does marine pollution affect the environment?
- They get contaminated with human debris like sewages, fertilisers and pesticides.
- Non-biodegradable plastics persist in the environment, causing marine organisms to accidentally consume.
- Fertilisers and sewage form dead zones, where there is insufficient Oxygen supply.
- Oil spills wash up and kill seaweeds that provide nutrients for food chains.
What is Deforestation and its disadvantages?
It is the clearing of trees.
- This reduces Biodiversity
- Causes extinction
- Loss of soil/ soil erosion (tree roots can longer hold soil together)
- Flooding (no soil to absorb water)
- Increase of Co2 in air increasing global warming and climate change. (less photosynthesis)
What is Pollution?
It is when harmful substances get into the environment and make things unsafe or dirty for living things.
- Water, Land, Air.
What is Water pollution?
This is when untreated sewage, fertilisers and pesticides get into aquatic ecosystems.
This can lead to Eutrophication. (Anoxic water bodies)
What is Eutrophication?
1) Excess nitrates and phosphates from fertilisers and sewage are washed into streams and rivers.
2) Algae absorb these excess nutrients and grow rapidly, causing an Algal bloom
3) This prevents light from reaching the algae underwater, leading to death.
4) Bacteria decompose dead algae and use up Oxygen in the process for respiration
5) As a result, the water becomes Anoxic and fish die.
What are non-biodegradable products?
These are plastics that wont breakdown naturally, and will remain in the environment for a long time.
These release harmful chemicals in water.
What is Air pollution?
Methane and Carbon Dioxide are Greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, causing increase of Global warming and air pollution.
- Methane from fuels
- Co2 from burning fossil fuels
