Agriculture
Define monocropping & name a way it can be harmful to soil health.
What is monocropping?
This logging method removes all trees in an area and harms biodiversity.
What is clear-cutting?
A mining technique used to remove coal and minerals near the earth’s surface in strips.
What is strip mining?
The uncontrolled spreading of urban areas into rural land.
What is urban sprawl?
Harvesting fish faster than they can reproduce, leading to population declines.
What is overfishing?
A soil conservation method that involves plowing along the natural shape of the land to reduce erosion.
What is contour plowing?
The ecological process starts on bare rock with no soil versus the succession that happens after soil is present.
What are primary succession and secondary succession?
Two major environmental problems caused by mining activities.
What are habitat destruction and water pollution?
The effect of cities is increasing runoff and reducing groundwater recharge due to paved surfaces.
What is the impact on the water cycle?
Non-target species are accidentally caught during commercial fishing operations.
What is bycatch?
One advantage and one disadvantage of genetically modified organisms in farming.
What is higher yield and possible loss of genetic diversity?
Two forestry practices that help maintain sustainable forest management.
What are selective cutting and replanting?
This mining technique involves digging deep vertical shafts to extract minerals from underground deposits.
What is subsurface mining?
The phenomenon where cities experience higher temperatures than nearby rural areas due to human structures.
What is the heat island effect?
The idea that shared resources are overused and depleted because individuals act in their own self-interest.
What is the tragedy of the commons?
The agricultural revolution increased crop yields using high-yield varieties and fertilizers.
What is the Green Revolution?
Open lands used for grazing livestock can suffer from damage when animals eat plants faster than they regrow.
What are rangelands and overgrazing?
A U.S. law that requires coal mines to restore mined land to its original condition or better.
What is the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA)?
Surfaces like roads and parking lots that prevent water infiltration and increase flood risks.
What are impervious surfaces?
The farming of aquatic organisms can sometimes lead to pollution and disease.
What is aquaculture?
A pest control strategy combining biological, physical, and chemical methods to minimize environmental harm.
What is IPM?
A grazing practice where livestock are moved between pastures to prevent vegetation loss.
What is rotational grazing?
Mining method that blasts the top off mountains and buries streams with debris.
What is mountaintop removal mining?
This urban design technique increases green space and tree cover to improve air quality and reduce heat in cities.
What is urban greening?
Designated zones where fishing is restricted or banned to help fish populations recover.
What are marine protected areas (MPAs)?