ap hug frq topics unit 5

What are the issues related to the changing nature of contemporary agriculture?

Agricultural innovations (e.g., biotechnology, genetically modified organisms) have resulted in ongoing debates over environmental, cultural, and health impacts. Environmental issues related to agriculture include sustainability, soil degradation, reduction in biodiversity, overgrazing, river and aquifer depletion, animal wastes, and extensive fertilizer and pesticide use.

What are the economic forces that influence agricultural practices?

Agricultural production regions are defined by the extent to which they reflect subsistence or commercial practices, or intensive or extensive use of land.

What is the connection between physical geography and agricultural practices.

Agricultural regions are influenced by the natural environment (e.g., climate, soils, landforms). Populations alter the landscape (e.g., terraces, irrigation, deforestation, draining wetlands) to increase food production.

What are the major centers of domestication of plants and animals and patterns of diffusion in the first (Neolithic) agricultural revolution?What are the major centers of domestication of plants and animals and patterns of diffusion in the first (Neolithic) agricultural revolution?

Early hearths of domestication of plants and animals include Southwest Asia (e.g., the Fertile Crescent), Southeast Asia, and the Americas. Patterns of diffusion (e.g., Columbian Exchange) resulted in the globalization of various plants and animals.

What are the environmental consequences of agricultural practices?

Environmental systems are affected by land use/land cover change (e.g., irrigation, desertification, deforestation).

What are the issues related to the location of food- production facilities?

Factors affecting the location of food-processing facilities include markets, economies of scale, transportation, government policies, etc.

Explain the interdependence among regions of food production and consumption.

Food is part of a global supply chain; products from less developed low-latitude regions (e.g., coffee, bananas) are often consumed globally. Patterns of global food distribution are affected by political systems, infrastructure, and patterns of world trade.

What are the advances and impacts of the second agricultural revolution?

New technology and increased food production led to better diet, longer life, and more people available for work in factories.

What are some consequences of the Green Revolution on food supply and the environment?

Positive consequences of the Green Revolution include increased food production and a relative reduction in hunger at the global scale. Negative consequences of the Green Revolution include environmental damage resulting from irrigation and chemical use (e.g., pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers) and the cost of technology and seeds.

What are some rural settlement patterns?

Rural settlement patterns are classified as clustered, dispersed, or linear

What are the factors that initiate and drive urbanization and suburbanization?

Site and situation influence the origin, function, and growth of cities. Transportation and communication have facilitated urbanization and suburbanization. Improvements in agriculture and transportation. World cities and megacities.

What is the changing role of women in food production and consumption?

The role of women in food production has changed (e.g., food gathering, farming, managing agribusiness). The role of women has changed the types of food a family consumes and the way food is prepared.

What is the spatial organization of large- scale commercial agriculture and agribusiness?

The transformation of agriculture into large-scale agribusiness has resulted in complex commodity chains linking production and consumption of agricultural products. Technological improvements have changed the economies of scale in the agricultural sector.

How do the land use zones of von Thünen's model differ?

Von Thünen's model helps to explain rural land use by emphasizing the importance of transportation costs associated with distance from the market.

How does the application of von Thünen's land use model to agricultural production translate in the real world?

Von Thünen's model helps explain the contemporary distribution of agricultural regions. Regions of specialty farming do not always conform to von Thünen's concentric rings.