Unit 5

Question 1

What are the three types of soil?

Answer 1

Clay, silt, and sand

Question 2

What are the pros and cons of Clay?

Answer 2

The pros hold water and nutrients which helps in supporting plant growth.
The cons of Clay are that it has the lowest amount of room for air out of the 3 meaning that is difficult to support plant growth because soil needs air pockets to hold water and air.

Question 3

What are the pros and cons of silt?

Answer 3

The pros of silt are that it is a combination of sandy soil and clay soil. So it has benefits of both.

Question 4

What are the pros and cons of sandy soil?

Answer 4

What are the pros of sandy soil are that the larger particles allow for more air pockets in the soil and allow for good drainage.
The cons are that sandy soil holds the lowest amount of water out of the three.

Question 5

What is the soil formation process?

Answer 5

soil is formed by a very long and slow process where rock is broken down, the erosion of sediments, and the decomposition of organic matter.

Question 6

How does the soil formation process relate to succession?

Answer 6

The soil formation process relates to succession because the creation of soil is a key part to succession or the creation of a forest because without soil being formed it is impossible to grow.

Question 7

What is the ideal type of soil for primary productivity?

Answer 7

The ideal soil for primary productivity is loam because it is an even combination of all three soil types. Meaning that is able to have air pockets and hold nutrients and water the best meaning that it has the ideal composition for primary production.

Question 8

How do the soil and biosphere interact?

Answer 8

The soil interacts with the biosphere by having rainwater infiltrate the soil, the organic matter gets decomposed, and soil energy gets transferred to plants that are produced from the soil’s materials.

Question 9

What is subsistence farming?

Answer 9

Subsistence farming is farming to produce for the farmer’s family or community.

Question 10

What is commercial farming?

Answer 10

Commercial farming is farming for prophet on a large scale. (grocery stores)

Question 11

What is pastoral farming?

Answer 11

pastoral farming is rasing animals on land that is not suitable for plant growth.

Question 12

What is arable farming?

Answer 12

arable farming is growing crops on good soils to eat or feed to families.

Question 13

What is mixed farming?

Answer 13

mixed farming is a combination of pastoral and arable farming.

Question 14

In what ways is substance farming sustainable?

Answer 14

Substance farming uses human and animal labor which is less harmful to the soil. Substance farming also grows species that are native to the land reducing problems. Crop rotations and biological pests reduce the need for pesticides. Free range reduces antibiotics.

Question 15

How can substance farming be unsustainable?

Answer 15

They can be unsustainable by not being monitored by the law, water use,

Question 16

How is commercial farming unsustainable?

Answer 16

The heavy use of machinery damages soil and uses fossil fuels which reduces a limited resource and produces a lot of pollution. Heavy water use diverts water use from local communities. Reliance on fertilizers harming ecosystems. Reliance to antibiotics creates diseases that are more resilient.

Question 17

what are some reasons for global hunger?

Answer 17

Some reasons for global hunger include issues like war, climates unsuitable for food production, and affordability of products.

Question 18

What is an example of global hunger?

Answer 18

Myanmar has a high amount of hunger due to an increase in food prices that has been caused by lower levels of food production in the past couple of years.

Question 19

what are some examples of inequitable food supply?

Answer 19

Some examples of the inequitable food supply are that we produce enough food on the planet to feed everyone but the food is not equally distributed. Someone living in an MEDC with access and the buying power gets foods of all nutrients and foods out of season.
Compared to someone living in an LEDC who can only access bush meat as their main source of nutrition.

Question 20

Why do there need to be changes in food demand?

Answer 20

There needs to be a change in food demand because, with an increasing population, it is not sustainable to produce what food it is preferred. Because the preference for foods at higher trophic levels requires more resources and land that is not accessible for supporting the population.

Question 21

How can socioeconomic status affect food choices?

Answer 21

Socioeconomic status can affect food choices based on what can be accessed for example someone of a higher socioeconomic status may be more likely to afford foods labeled as organic have access to products that are out of season or in limited supply.

Question 22

How can culture affect food choices?

Answer 22

Culture can affect food choices by impacting what people eat more of so for example in the US it is common to eat high amounts of poultry and beef compared to other cultures where is it more common to eat fish, lamb, or meat alternatives.

Question 23

How can ecological factors affect food choices?

Answer 23

Ecological factors can affect how food is produced and with a changing climate that is becoming increasingly difficult. So for example as a result of low rainfall, there is less food that is produced overall in a season reducing the availability of food.

Question 24

How can economic factors affect food choices?

Answer 24

Economic factors can affect food choices by limiting people’s options for what they can purchase or allowing them to purchase a higher amount of more expensive products such as meat.

Question 25

How can the sustainability of terrestrial food production systems be improved?

Answer 25

The sustainability of terrestrial food production can be improved by incorporating different practices into commercial farming such as polyculture farming, the use of biological predators to control pests, and creating buffer zones.

Question 26

What is an example of terrestrial food production being improved?

Answer 26

An example of terrestrial food production is in Dave Brown's case as seen in the kiss the ground documentary where he changed his ways of farming and ranching to include a variety of species and changed how livestock grazed and reduced tilling.

Question 27

What is soil degradation?

Answer 27

Soil degradation is the soil health getting harmed either by erosion or by chemical use and agricultural practices.

Question 28

What is desertification?

Answer 28

desertification is when land that is ideal for farming has now become unable to support plant life.

Question 29

What causes desertification?

Answer 29

What causes desertification is intensive grazing where the soil is unable to regenerate growth since the livestock are restricted to the same place. Overcropping when too many of the same crops are grown in the same place or the same space of land is continuously farmed depletes the soil of its nutrients. Deforestation or urbanization where arable lands get taken away

Question 30

What is the process of erosion?

Answer 30

The process of erosion is when the wind or rain erodes or reduces the amount of soil.

Question 31

What is the deposition of soil and explain how it is caused.

Answer 31

The deposition of the soil is caused by changes in forests or arable land where the vegetation is removed and the soil gets transported by wind or rain.

Question 32

How can overgrazing lead to desertification?

Answer 32

Overgrazing can lead to the desertification of an area because with the constant grazing the roots of the plants become unable to hold the soil together and it gets moved around with the wind and rain greatly reducing the amount of soil available.

Question 33

What is an example of overgrazing causing desertification?

Answer 33

An example would be in Sahel Africa when many countries in the region saw the amount of cattle one had as a status symbol. Leading people to get lots of cattle leading to overgrazing of an area. Then in 70s and 80s lead to lots of droughts which reduced vegetation making the problem worse. Causing the soil to turn to dirt and the cattle to die causing a famine.

Question 34

What is an example of overcropping?

Answer 34

An example of overcropping is when farmers in the 1930s were overcropping their land in order to keep up with food demands. Which lead to the dust bowl in the midwest and southern regions of the country. With the intense need for specific nutrients in the soil, it gets depleted and turns into dust. Since this was occurring on such a large scale the dust would blow up and around in dust storms.

Question 35

What is an example of overcropping?

Answer 35

An example of overcropping is when farmers in the 1930s were overcropping their land in order to keep up with food demands, which lead to the dust bowl in the midwest and southern regions of the country. With the intense need for specific nutrients in the soil, it gets depleted and turns into dust. Since this was occurring on such a large scale the dust would blow up and around in dust storms.

Question 36

How can unsustainable agricultural practices lead to soil degradation?

Answer 36

Unsustainable agricultural practices can lead to degradation because the practices make the soil susceptible to erosion or deplete the soil of its nutrients. An example would be clearing all the vegetation after a harvest which puts the soil at risk for erosion. Another example would be the high use of pesticides getting into the soil and making it too toxic to use for agricultural use.

Question 37

How can erosion lead to soil degradation?

Answer 37

Soil erosion can lead to soil degradation because the loss of the soil that occurs during erosion leads to the loss of nutrients and reduces the soil quality.

Question 38

What are some soil conservation strategies?

Answer 38

Some soil conservation strategies include cover crops which are crops that are planted between rows of the main crops to have those roots help bind the soil to keep it in place. Wind reduction can also help support soil conservation by planting trees/ bushes between fields (shelter belts). Or alternating tall and short crops (strip cultivation). Crop rotation can also support soil with changing what crops are being planted each year.