Environmental Science CH14
Water generally makes up about ______ of the soil system.
25%
Land use practices in which trees and crops are planted together to improve soil fertility in degraded soils is termed
agroforestry.
Temperate deciduous forests usually grown on
alfisols
A method of cultivation in which residues from previous crops are left in the soil until the newly planted seeds are established is termed
conservation tillage.
The Great Green Wall of China
consists of millions of trees
The planting of a series of different crops in the same field over a period of years is termed
crop rotation
All of the following are soil orders EXCEPT
horizosols
The 1930's Dust Bowl in the western United States is an example of
prolonged drought and accelerated wind erosion caused by use of marginal land for agriculture
According to the video wheat must be dried to what moisture content before it can be placed in storage
15%
Organic matter generally makes up about _____ of the soil system.
5%
What continent has about 17% of total land area with degraded soil
Africa
All of the following factors promote soil erosion EXCEPT
All promote soil erosion: ice, water, human activities, wind
As mentioned in the video the impact of wet weather on crops include?
All: harvest crops, cultivation of crops, planting
Desertification of soil can be caused by
All: overcultivation, forest removal, overgrazing, soil erosion
Which of the following soil horizons contains weathered pieces of rock and is often saturated with groundwater
C-Horizon
This heavily leached soil horizon occasionally appears between the A-horizon and B-horizon
E-horizon
Which continent has the highest percent of total land area with degraded soils?
Europe
The uppermost layer of soil which is usually rich in organic material is called the
O-Horizon
Which of the following is NOT a component of the soil system?
Soil microbes
Identify the voluntary subsidy program that pays farmers to stop producing crops on highly erodible farmland
The Conservation Reserve Program
What major human-induced factor caused the American Dust Bowl?
The removal of native grasses to plant wheat.
Which of the following is NOT an anthropogenic factor that influences the soil system?
Topography
Spodosols are generally found in regions with
a good drainage
Fertile agricultural soil usually contains
all of these choices are correct: algae; bacteria, fungi, protozoa
Soil erosion
all of these choices are correct: causes an overall loss of soil fertility, only an overall loss of soil fertility and a decrease in the productivity of agricultural crop are impacts of soil erosion; limits the growth of plants; decreases the productivity of agricultural crops
Soil is formed by
all of these choices are correct: physical weathering processes, chemical weathering processes, only biological and physical weathering processes, biological weathering processes
The difference between compost and mulch is
compost is mixed into soil to improve fertility; mulch is placed on soil's surface to control weeds and retain moisture
Acid precipitation
damages plants
All of the following are ecosystem services performed by soil organisms EXCEPT
exacerbating soil erosion
The deposition of leached material in the lower layers of soil is known as
illuviation.
Loam
is an ideal agricultural soil
Overburden tends to erode at high rates because it
is dumped into piles with no stable or settled structure
Nutrient cycling in soil
is facilitated by weathering of parent materials
Most of the world's grain crops are grown on
mollisols.
The process of exposing coal deposits by removing all the trees, soil and rock above the deposit is known as
mountaintop removal mining
Identify the five state factors involved in the formation of the soil system
patent material, climate, topography, organisms, time
Soil management is essential to controlling erosion. According to the video two of the most critical issues in preventing erosion is managing surface water and
runoff
The video mentioned several methods that are essential for protecting and preventing soil loss due to erosion. Those methods included all of the following except
spray irrigation
Soil texture refers to the
the size assignments for sand, silt and clay in soil.
Goals of the Great Green Wall include all of the following EXCEPT
to prevent dust storms from forming in the Gobi Desert