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