Soil
What are the percentages of the four components to healthy top soil?
20-30% Air, 20-30% Water, 5% Organic Matter, 45% Minerals
What is bycatch?
Bycatch is the unintended species caught when fishing
List at least 5 sustainable farming practices.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
Grazing for Cattle
Organic Agriculture
Planting Cover Crops
Integrating livestock and crops
Compost and Compost Tea
Give five examples of ways humans have positive impacts on marine ecosystems.
Marine Protected Areas, Ecosystem-based Management, Waste Reduction, Habitat Restoration, Sustainable Seafood (Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program), Education Outreach, Cleaning of Marine Debris out of the ocean, Closing Fisheries
Describe the conditions (pH, N,P, and K) for each of the soils that you tested.
Organic Store Bought Soil:
Invertebrate Census Soil Sample:
(different depending on class or group)
Organic Store Bought Soil: (example) The pH of the organic soil was 6.5 to 7. For the nutrient levels the nitrogen was sufficient, the phosphorous was adequate, and the potassium was adequate.
Invertebrate Census Soil Sample: (example) The pH of the invertebrate census soil sample was also 6.5-7. For the nutrient levels the nitrogen was depleted, the phosphorous was adequate, and the potassium was adequate.
Just 3% of North America's tallgrass prairie remains. What is a key consequence of that of the disappearance of North America's tallgrass prairie?
A massive loss of soil carbon into the atmosphere.
What are 3 fishing methods of fishing with the side effect of bycatch?
Longlining, bottom trawling, and purse seine
What are 5 of the problems of our current agricultural system (conventional agriculture)?
Continuing soil loss (desertification)
Food safety concerns (food-borne illnesses, antibiotic resistance, pesticide residues)
Water Pollution, air pollution, habitat loss, water depletion
Continuing hunger and rise of obesity
Chronic diseases linked to agricultural chemicals
Reliance on fossil fuels (climate change)
What are 5 ways you can make the food system more sustainable?
Local Eating, buy ingredients that follow the seasons, waste less food, support fair trade, avoid additives and pesticides, go organic, cook with whole foods, compost, buy food from local farmer's market, buy sustainable fish, buy grass fed beef, volunteer at sustainable farm, grow your own garden
Nitrogen:
Phosphorus:
Potassium:
Nitrogen: animal manure, fish scraps, cottonseed meal, tobacco stems, plant legumes (beans), ammonia (from natural gas)
Phosphorus: ground bones treated with sulfuric acid, rock phosphate, bat guano
Potassium:mined from underground deposits, residue of potassium salts from making soap, plant ash, kelp meal
Cover crops, compost, manure, integrating livestock into crops, compost tea, grazing, organic farming
Pick one of the fishing methods that affect bycatch and describe how that method causes bycatch.
- longlining- The line can be up to 50 miles long and it sits the ocean for a long period of time without supervision and then pulled back in so not very selective.
Purse seine- surrounds a school of fish which could include other species
Bottom trawling- drags net on bottom of the ocean with weights which collects everything in its path and destroys the sea floor and the whole ecosystem.
What are the 3 main goals that need to be reached for agriculture to be sustainable?
Environmental Sustainability
Economic Sustainability
Social/Community Sustainability
What are four negative impacts of humans on marine ecosystems?
Overfishing, Bycatch, Plastic and Marine Debris, Activities that cause Climate Change, Pollution and Runoff
What percentage more of carbon per unit of nitrogen of soil can be stored in soil if mycorrhizal fungi is present?
70%
How does carbon get from the air to the soil?
Through photosynthesis, a plant draws carbon out of the air to form carbon compounds. What the plant doesn't need for growth is exuded through the roots to feed soil organisms, whereby the carbon is humified (convert into organic matter (humus)), or rendered stable.
Pick one example of the positive impacts that humans have on marine ecosystems and describe how it is helpful to marine ecosystems.
Marine Protected Areas- helps to decrease negative imputs in an ecoystem and reduce amount of fish/species taken out of ecosystem
Ecosystem-based management-looks at all factors affecting the ecosystem of the species they are trying to protect
Waste Reduction- helps to reduce the chances of sealife negatively affected by our waste
Sustainable Seafood- people are educated in what seafood is a better choice for sustainability
Habitat Restoration- helps ecosystems to bounce back after being negatively affected by humans
Give 3 examples of integrating livestock into crops.
ducks eating snails, chickens eating aphids, goats eating cover crop so no need to mow, chickens eating maggots out of manure so less flies.
What are the four main fish we are over eating?
Salmon, shrimp, white fish, tuna
Using our fishing simulation as an example. Why is it important for us to regulate fisheries? Provide 3 rules that could help sustain a fishery.
If not regulated we may run out of fish.
Fish limits/ close seasons if numbers too low/ boat limits/ shorter seasons/ rotate fishing grounds
What are 3 ways carbon helps soil?
Carbon is the main component of soil organic matter and helps give soil its water retention capacity, it's structure, and fertility.
How is ecosystem based management similar to sustainable agriculture.
Takes into account the interaction of ecological, economic, cultural impacts of the fishery which are the same goals of sustainable agriculture.
What are the problems with conventionally raised cows (CAFOS)?
Most are fed GMO soy and corn which requires numerous inputs of herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers.
- As well, cows are not meant to eat soy and corn.
A large number of cattle contained in one area, without access to pasture, creates a vast amount of animal waste and methane emissions.
-Increasing green house gases
-Waste can leach into ground and surface water polluting water sources and numerous ecosystems
-Factory farms pose a number of risk to both people and the environment.
Due to crowded and unsanitary living conditions, cows are often given daily doses of antibiotics, which has resulted in a number of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
-These “superbugs can transfer from animal to humans through contact and infected meat.
In order to maintain and increase milk production in cows they often receive hormones (rBGH)
-These hormones end up in the milk and can cause cancer and impact reproductive health.
What are the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment?
Chemical Fertilizers getting into our water and oceans, intensive use of fossil fuels and the release of methane from waste into atmosphere effect climate change, soil degradation, deforestation, desertification
Plans are in development for farmers to make money off their conservation practices. What are the 3 ways farmers could generate credit by farming?
Farming in ways that store carbon
Filter out water pollution
preserve wildlife habitat