Population and Environment 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What are the inputs of agricultural systems?
A
- Physical and human factors
- Economic factors such as farm labour and money, equipment and soil type.
2
Q
What are the processes of agricultural systems?
A
- Ploughing, weeding and milking
3
Q
What are the outputs of agricultural systems?
A
- The products from the farm such as crops, milk and meat products.
4
Q
What is subsistence farming?
A
- Where this is just enough food to provide for the farmer’s family.
5
Q
What is agribusiness?
A
- Involves the large corporate organisation of farming, often farms are fun for profit maximisation.
6
Q
What is extensive farming?
A
- Where the size of a farm is very large in comparison to the inputs of money, labour, technological advancements.
7
Q
What is pastoral farming?
A
- Involves the rearing of livestock.
8
Q
What is mixed farming?
A
- Involves a combination of arable and pastoral farming
9
Q
What is commercial farming?
A
- The growing of crops/rearing of livestock to make a profit
10
Q
What is intensive farming?
A
- Where the farm size is small in comparison with the large amount of labour, and inputs of capital.
11
Q
What is arable farming?
A
- Involves the growing of crops.
12
Q
What is total factor productivity?
A
- The ratio of agricultural outputs to inputs
13
Q
How would we improve TFP? (4 ways)
A
- Higher-yielding crops
- Disease-resistant crops
- Drought-tolerant crops
- More efficient and timely cultivation and harvesting practices.
14
Q
What are the 4 main parts of soil?
A
- Water, air, minerals and organic matter
15
Q
What are the gaps between the soil spaces?
A
- Pore spaces
16
Q
What are zonal soils?
A
- Soils that have been forming for long periods of time under the influence of climate and vegetation.
17
Q
What are different brands of the soil?
A
- Horizons
18
Q
What is the O horizon of soil?
A
- Organic matter
19
Q
What colour is chernozem soil?
A
- Deep black
20
Q
How deep is chernozem soil?
A
- 1 metre deep
21
Q
What is the fertility of chernozem soil?
A
- High natural fertility
22
Q
Where are chernozems found?
A
- Black Earth region
23
Q
What is soil erosion?
A
- Defined as the wearing away of the top layer of the soil.
24
Q
Why is the topsoil so important ?
A
- It is the layer of soil which needs protecting the most because it is the most fertile layer also.
25
What is the colour of the latosol soil?
- Red/brown in colour showing iron and oxides in there.
26
How deep are the latosol?
- 20-30 metres deep
27
Why is leaching a big problem?
- Leaching is a bit problem because it washes out all the organic material downwards then out of the soil.
28
What is rill erosion?
- When rainfall does not soak into the soil, it can gather on the surface and runs downhill, forming small channels of water called drills.
29
What is sheet erosion?
- Overland flow can transport top soil, like a bedsheet falling off a bed.
30
What is gully erosion?
- Rills can grow into gullies which are bigger ditches.
31
What is riverbank erosion?
- Soil is washed away by unmanaged rivers.
32
What is saltation?
- Small particles of soil are lifted by the wind, and they hop or bounce along the surface.
33
What is wind creep?
- Larger particles are rolled along the surface by being hit by over moving particles.
34
What is abrasion and attrition?
- Suspended particles abrade the soil when they fall back to the ground.
- They also hit other particles and break into smaller pieces.
35
What is suspension?
- When the smallest particles are lifted in the air as dust and are transported away from the erosion site.
36
Why does repeated erosion reduce the fertility of the soil?
- There is repetitive removal of top soil that is rich in crop nutrients and organic matter
- Reduction of the depth of soil available for rooting and water storage for crop growth.
- Reducing infiltration of water into the soil so this increases run-off and erosion.
37
What are 5 solutions to soil erosion?
1) Installing and maintaining field drains and ditches
2) Reducing the amount of water running off roads and farm track onto fields
3) Using a lot of farmyard manure to stabilise the top soil.
4) Protecting soil in winter by early sowing or the use of cover crops
5) Work across slopes whenever possible.
