5.1 and 5.2
Individuals will use shared/public resources* in their own self interest, degrading** them
What is Tragedy of the Commons
Shift in agriculture away from small, family operated farms to large, industrial-scale agribusiness
What is the Green Revolution ?
Growing one single species (corn, wheat, soy) of crop
What is monocropping?
AKA feedlots - densely crowded method where animals are fed grain (corn) to raise them to as quickly as possible
What are CAFOs?
populations of fish used for commercial fishing
What are fisheries?
Areas where the same tree species are repeatedly planted, grown, and harvested
What is tree harvesting?
Increased use of tractors for plowing and tilling fields, and combines for harvesting = increased yield + profits
Mixing and breaking up soil to make planting easier
What is tilling?
Large, open storage pits for animal waste (manure)
What are manure lagoons?
When overfishing causes 90% population decline in a fishery
What is a fishery collapse?
One negative effect of tree harvesting
Lowers biodiversity
modified crops have genes for drought tolerance, pest resistance, faster growth, and larger fruit/grain
What are GMOs?
Cutting down vegetation and burning it to clear land for ag. & return nutrients in plants to soil
what is slash and burn?
Too many animals grazing an area of land can remove all the vegetation (grass) which leads to topsoil erosion
What is overgrazing?
Especially harmful fishing method that involves draggin a large net along ocean floor
What is bottom trawling?
One of the three benefits of forrests
Filtering air pollutants
Removing CO2
Habitat for organisms
Drawing water from the ground or nearby surface waters and distributing it on fields to increase plant growth
What is irrigation?
Loss of: habitat, biodiv, CO2 sequestration (storage), loss of air pollution filtration. Slash and burn agriculture is contributing to this.
What is deforestation?
Animals (usually cows) graze on grass & grow at a natural rate without growth hormones
What is Free Range Grazing?
unintended species like dolphins, whales, turtles caught in nets
What is bycatch?
One direct effect of clearcutting
Soil Erosion
Increased Soil and Stream Temp.
Flooding and Landslides
Hybrid, or genetically modified crops that produce a higher yield (amount of crop produced per unit of area)
High Yield Variety Crops
Process caused by synthetic fertilizers where water carries excess nutrients into groundwater or into surface waters (as runoff)
What is leaching?
Type of bacteria in CAFOs that can make humans sick and can even lead to death.
As we deplete large, predatory fisheries, we move down to smaller fish species and this creates a domino effect in the ecosystem
What is a trophic cascade?