APES Final
What is a negative side effect of using pesticides?
- Commonly kills nontarget organisms - Affect bees and pollination - residue left on crops
(FRQ #1) There are many problems associated with the repeated application of chemical pesticides to reduce pest populations. - Crop rotation is often used to reduce pesticide use. Describe the process of crop rotation - Propose one reasonable method, other than crop rotation, of reducing the use of pesticides in agricultural practices while still maintaining a high crop yield. - Justify how the method proposed in (e)(ii) would provide a benefit to humans.
- Crop rotation is when farmers alternate the type of crops grown in a given area from one season to the next. This helps revitalize the soil with nutrients. - One reasonable method of reducing the use of pesticides while painting a high crop yield is through intercropping. This helps re-nourish soil, protects from disease, provides more ground cover, and prevents erosion. This also will reduce the amount of habitat for the pests. - Intercropping reduces the use of pesticide residue in the crops. The reduction helps improve the health of the consumers of the food products. Also, less money will be spent on pesticides.
How does the level of salt in the soil affect the growth of crops? (Think about your mung beans you grew in class).
- Evaporation causes water from other, deeper layers to be pulled upwards, bringing more salt with it. Salts in the soil can absorb water - this results in less water being available for uptake by the plants, increasing water stress and root dehydration. - the more amount of salt = the less amount of water = slower your crop grows/doesn't grow at all
How does crop rotation help keep a soil healthy and stop/limit erosion? How do cover crops help?
- Helps revitalize the soil with nutrients - Rotating in high-residue crops — such as corn, hay, and small grain — can reduce erosion as the layer of residue protects topsoil from being carried away by wind and water - Cover crops help regenerate soil nutrient levels and texture
Label and describe each soil horizon.
- O (organic layer) = humus - A (topsoil) = minerals with humus - B (subsoil) = deposited materials and metal salts - C (parent material) = partly weathered rock - Bedrock = unweathered parent rock
Describe the difference between a pest and a weed. How can the animals on a farm help with pests and weeds?
- Pests are a living organism, either a plant, fungus, or animal that is harmful/ threatens the life and existence of human beings and human concerns, while weeds are any plant that undesirably grows or exists in a particular situation - Animals on a farm can help with pests and weeds through biocontrol. (Use of living species that are the natural enemy of or prey upon or parasitize the targeted pest)
(FRQ #1) Use the data in the table to answer the following questions - Identify the year when the pesticide was most effective at reducing the size of the pest population - Describe the change in the number of crop insect pests in the cotton fields over time. - Explain how the change in the cotton-crop pesticide effectiveness between the initial application in 1975 and the latest application in 2015 illustrates genetic resistance in pests, based on the data in the table.
- The year the pesticide use was the most effective was in 1975 - The number of pests was high before the pesticide was used. It then dropped dramatically after the first application and then increased again over time. - Based on the data in the table, the effectiveness of the cotton-crop pesticide had decreased. This is because overtime the pests will develop a pesticide-resistant gene, and will pass it down through future generations. This results in the pesticide becoming ineffective, and most likely killing or harming non-target species.
Use the Soil Texture Diagram to identify the different soils - 10% sand, 60% clay, 30% silt - 60% sand, 15% clay, 35% silt - 40% sand, 20% clay, 40% silt
- clay - sandy loam - loam
What are four factors that make up soil composition?
- disintegrated rock - organic matter - water and gas - nutrients and microorganisms
Give a real-life example for each of the following irrigation methods Drip (Trickle) Furrow Spray Flood Pivot
- drip irrigation = thin piping placed along crops/trees like orchard crops (grapes/bananas) - furrow = trench/ditch dug alongside crops/rows such as corn crops - Spray = some type of nozzle to apply water to specific areas, such as sprinklers - Flood = rapid application of water over a flat surface (This technique can be useful for crops which need to remain submerged, like rice, and for soil which absorbs slowly.) - Pivot = massive sprinkler that rotates in a circle (orchard and vines)
How does overgrazing cause desertification?
- overgrazing depletes plants faster than they can regrow - Leaves land barren and causes desertification
Describe the process of leaching. (Look at soil horizons A and B). How can leaching affect the nitrogen cycle? (Think about the role plants play in the N cycle).
- solid particles suspended or dissolved in liquid are transported to different areas (or horizons) - as they travel down a profile, they become more and more diluted - nitrogen can be leached into underground water sources, the nitrogen will then build up in a process called eutrophication (nitrogen can contaminate underground water sources)
(FRQ #2) Based on the information in the graph, identify the percent of cover that was sedges and grasses in the unburned plot.
20% of the cover in the unburned plot was sedges and grasses (check AP college board)
How does drip irrigation help a farmer fertilize the crops?
Adding fertilizer to drip irrigation can help provide or restore nutrients in the soil
irrigation
Artificial provision of water
(FRQ #2) A researcher hypothesizes that in the Alaskan tundra area in the study, lichen will dominate the landscape in later succession stages. Make a claim based on evidence in the graph to support or refute this hypothesis.
Based off of the evidence in the graph, I believe that the lichen will dominate the landscape in later succession stages. This is because the graph shows the amount of lichen increasing as the time of the fire passes
(FRQ #2) Based on the information in the graph, describe how an increase in the frequency of fires would affect the percent cover of mosses.
Based off this information, the increase in the frequency of fires has decreased the amount of mosses (check AP college board)
Salinization
Build up of salts on Horizon A (topsoil layer)
(FRQ #2) Soil texture also affects soil nutrient levels. Make a claim about the relative soil nutrient levels in clay loam compared to loamy sand soils.
Clay loam is more nutrient rich than loamy sand soils. This is because the clay holds more water and nutrients than sand.
(FRQ #2) Lichen have become extinct in large areas since the Industrial Revolution. Lichen are sensitive to sulfur dioxide because they can quickly and efficiently absorb the sulfur from the atmosphere. Describe how lichen could be used as an environmental indicator species to evaluate if pollution control measures
Lichen can be used as environmental indicator species by measuring the lichen population. If there is a decrease in lichen, that indicates that there is a lot of pollution in the atmosphere (due to the lichen absorbing the sulfur in the atmosphere).
Overgrazing
Occurs when livestock depletes plants faster than they can regrow, reduces vegetation that covers the soil
(FRQ #1) Pesticide use has advantages, disadvantages and unintended consequences on human health. Describe one benefits to human health that can result from the use of pesticides.
One benefit to human health that can result from the use of pesticides is by controlling pests that may carry disease, such as mosquitos, ticks and rats.
Describe TWO effects of pesticide use, other than death, on non target wildlife.
One effect of pesticide use on non target wildlife is skin infections. This happens when the non target species comes in close contact with the pesticide. Another effect of pesticide use on non target wildlife is respiratory infections. This will happen if the non target species breathes in the pesticide being used.
(FRQ #1) Identify one way chemical pesticides can enter the human body.
One was chemical pesticides can enter the human body is buy breathing them in, there for creating a respiratory infection.
Waterlogging
Overirrigation saturates the soil
How do plant roots help with soil structure and prevent erosion?
Plant roots hold soil in their place, and prevent water from running off
Desertification
Removal of water, nutrients, and topsoil layer in an area
(FRQ #2) Explain why the scientist would test for phosphate levels in the soil in the study plots.
Scientists test for phosphate levels in the soil to see how the burning affected the nutrient levels in the soil. If there was a decrease in phosphate levels, then the fire had reduced the amount of nutrients in the soil. If the amount of phosphate remained the same, then the fire didn't pull any nutrients from the soil.
Soil helps to provide _________________ and _________________ that hold _________ and allows ___________ to grow to greater depths.
Soil helps to provide structure and texture that hold water and allows roots to grow to greater depths.
Leaching
Solid particles suspended or dissolved in liquid are transported to different areas (or horizons)
Pesticide
Synthetic chemicals used to kill insects (insecticide), plants (herbicide) and fungi (fungicide) which humans consider damaging to valuable crops
(FRQ #2) Identify the dependent variable for the investigation.
The dependent values are the average thaw depth, average surface organic thickness.
(FRQ #2) Based on the information in the graph, identify the dominant ground cover in the plot where a fire occurred 46 years before the data were collected.
The dominant ground cover in this plot was shrubs. (check AP college board)
(FRQ #2) One modification that could be made to the investigation would be to measure the surface organic material in different seasons. Describe how this modification could alter the results of the study.
This modification would create a more diverse set of data, since the temperature will change throughout the year. Due to the increase or decrease in temperature, the measurement of the surface organic material will fluctuate between seasons.
What are the differences between traditional and industrial agriculture?
Traditional: human and animal labor assisted with hand tools and simple machines Industrial: use of advanced machinery
Explain the difference between weathering and erosion of soil.
Weathering is when pieces of a rock of minerals are broken and stay in place, while erosion is when pieces of a rock of minerals are broken and are moved around.
Soil Horizon
a distinct layer within a soil profile
How can cattle and livestock help with soil salinization?
cattle and livestock can consume the soil in the crops, by eating the crops in the effected soil and eating the roots that contain the salt
Humus
dark, spongy, crumbly mass of materials; hold high levels of moisture
Polyculture
different crops are planted in one field
Soil
multifaceted system consisting disintegrated rock, organic matter, water and gas, and nutrients and microorganisms
Humus helps provide ____________________ to the soil. Why do farmers need to be careful about using fertilizers?
nutrients; chemical fertilizers can leach nutrients from the soil, therefore reducing the soils' organic matter
Monoculture
one crop planted in one field
Agriculture
practice of raising crops/livestock for human consumption
Erosion
removal of material from one place, and transported to another via water, wind, or animal behavior
Weathering
the breaking down of rocks and minerals
