envs- study guide 3

Monoculture

the cultivation of a single crop in a given area. "the replacement of natural forest with pine monoculture

Perennial

the cultivation of crop species that live longer than two years without the need for replanting each year. Perennial agriculture differs from mainstream agriculture in that it involves relatively less tilling and in some cases requires less labor and fewer pesticides, helping to maintain or even improve soil health. Perennial crops used in perennial agriculture are grown worldwide in various climates and are adapted to local environmental stressors.

Biodiversity

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Abiotic

weather, wildfires, access to water

Clean Water Act

(CWA, 1972) set maximum permissible amounts of water pollutants that can be discharged into waterways; aims to make surface waters swimmable and fishable

rustic

(adj.) country-like; simple, plain; awkward; (n.) one who lives in the country

Why are trees important?

* huge carbon sink * transpiration increases rainfall * habitat for animals * landscape stability * recreation, economy, fuel, lumber, paper and food

problems with pesticides

1) they don't kill all individuals in the specific insect species, so they become resistant to the pesticide and so it becomes useless. 2) kill beneficial insects 3) human health impacts 4) persistent in the environment 5) negative non-target effects

why the shift to intensification?

1. threat of disease from coffee leaf rust- 1970s 2. failure of the international coffee organization (ICO) 3. policies and programs of the national institutions and international aid programs.

palm oil

A West African tropical product often used to make soap; the British encouraged its cultivation as an alternative to the slave trade.

Ecological community

A community is a group of organisms of different species that live in a particular area.

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

Area that has low amounts of oxygen due to large amounts of nutrients. Contains large amounts of Phosphorus and Nitrogen in the water.

Anti-natalism

Concerned with limiting population growth. EX - China has this kind of policy.

deforestation

Destruction of forests. what to do about it? 1. stop deforestation 2. encourage reforestation

Agroecosystem

Ecology and its relevance to man, natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation. Physical and social environment as factors of crop distribution and production. Agro- ecology; cropping pattern as indicators of environments. Environmental pollution and associated hazards to crops, animals and humans.

Elinor Ostrum

Elinor Ostrom was an American political economist. She is best known for being the joint recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which she shared with fellow economist Oliver E. Williamson. Ostrom was born on 7th August, 1933, in Los Angeles, California.

Eutrophication

Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Norman Borlaug

Founder of Green Revolution: Increased wheat and maize yield worldwide, 1970 Nobel Peace Prize.

The I=PAT equation

Human Impact on the environment equals the product of Population, Affluence, and Technology.

dwarf varieties

Important plant hybrid innovation. Genetically modified plants with larger heads and shorter stalks. Green Revolution. 1950s-60s. Eg. Shorter breeds of both wheat and rice were found to be hardier and more productive because the plant spent less time and energy growing a stalk, resulting in more and larger grains on each head.

Famine in India

Indian farmers try to increase wheat yield by using nitrogen fertilizers, but the resulting plants grow so top heavy that they simply fall over. Mid-1960s; Farmers are encouraged to use new varieties of crop, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation to increase yield.

urban forestry

Management of naturally occurring and planted trees and associated plants in urban areas.

How are common are "common"?

Not all common pool resources are a free-for-all. There are many examples of people communicating to effectively manage commons.

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer

Organic Fertilizers are materials derived from plant and animal parts or residues. ... Synthetic Fertilizers are "Man made" inorganic compounds - usually derived from by-products of the petroleum industry. Examples are Ammonium Nitrate, Ammonium Phosphate, Superphosphate, and Potassium Sulfate. Plants require 13 nutrients.

Endangered Species Act

Passed in 1973 with bipartisan support •Identifies and attempts to protect endangered species from extinction •Keeps the U.S. in compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

cover crops

Plants, such as rye, alfalfa, or clover, that can be planted immediately after harvest to hold and protect the soil.

Group property

Resource rights held by a group of users who can exclude others

Tragedy of Open Access

Resources that are open to unregulated exploitation will eventually be depleted because individuals will act in their own self interest.

reconciliation ecology

Science of inventing, establishing, and maintaining habitats to conserve species diversity in places where people live, work, or play.

Open pollinated seeds

Seeds resulting from plants that are pollinated by numerous others of the same species.

Institutions

Systems of recognized constraints on individual behavior, including formal laws, but also unofficial rules or strong social norms

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of a substance, such as a toxic chemical, in various tissues of a living organism.

Social Darwinism

The belief that only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle.

Kerala Model

To understand the relationship between literacy and population growth by looking at the nature of human populations and the forces that cause them to grow and shrink.

theorized by Garrett Hardin. Using a pasture example that was actually a metaphor for overpopulation: *Everyone has access to a pasture *There are no rules about sustainable numbers for grazing *Each herder benefits more from adding more animals than they lose from overgrazing *The result: the pasture is overgrazed

Tragedy of the Commons

Wolf eradication in the U.S.

With westward expansion and the elimination of bison, wolves turned to livestock as a food source

Short History of Wolves

Wolves roamed nearly the entire continent prior to European arrival, but by 1958 they were eradicated from most of the U.S. and Mexico.

Pro-natalism

a belief that promotes human reproduction

integrated pest management

a variety of pest control methods that include repairs, traps, bait, poison, etc. to eliminate pests

Tropic cascade

an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling.

Haber-Bosch process

artificial nitrogen fixation process, converting unavailable nitrogen gas to ammonia, an inorganic form of N that is available to plants Uses the fossil fuel, natural gas

sun coffee plantations

coffee is grown in full sun with agrochemicals.

Biotic (species interactions)

competition, predation, parasitism and disease

"cornucopian" population theory

continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology. Fundamentally they believe that there is enough matter and energy on the Earth to provide for the population of the world

Tropic levels

each of several hierarchical levels in an ecosystem, comprising organisms that share the same function in the food chain and the same nutritional relationship to the primary sources of energy.

Neo-Malthusians believe...

earth's resources can only support a finite population. Believes that limited resources keep population in check and reduce economic growth therefore growth should be controlled. Pressure on scarce resources leads to famine and war.

Women's empowerment and population

education for women and empowerment ( in protest of the no child policy and sterilization). More healthcare

shade coffee

grown under forest

industrial agriculture

intensive farming practices involving mechanization and mass production. *malnutrition *Greenhouse gas emissions *loss of diversity *chemical contamination from pesticides * Eutrophication from fertilizers

Tropic cascade

is a series of trophic interactions that result in change in energy and species composition

Demographic factors

is an effort to understand how human populations change over time

Crop rotation

is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar or different types of crops in the same area in sequenced seasons. It is done so that the soil of farms is not used for only one set of nutrients. It helps in reducing soil erosion and increases soil fertility and crop yield.

coffee

originally from Ethiopia was introduced to Western Europe in 1500s and then spread by the 1800s, coffee plantation throughout American tropics coffee market is dominated by 4 corporations: 1. Kraft general food (maxwell house) 2. Nestle 3. Proctor and Gamble 4. Sara lee

monoculture

the process by which a single crop is grown and harvested to the exclusion of other types of crops. Dissimilar to wild ecosystem, which almost always > 1 plant type.

Hardin's view on overpopulation

was concerned on overpopulation. Programs dealing with hunger through free food are counter-productive.

Agroforestry

when trees and crops are planted together, creating a mutualistic symbiotic relationship between them.

High yield varieties

•High nitrogen-absorbing potential •Usually hybrids •What: Hybrids are crops that are cross-bred from different parent lines. Won't produce true-to-form if open-pollinated. Pros: higher yielding and more pest resistant.

Cooperation has an evolutionary advantage

•Political ecologist Peter Kropotkin argued cooperation is as important for evolution as competition •Observations of collective action called into question Social Darwinism

hybrid

The result of cross-pollination between two varieties of the same genus and species.

Rhizobia

a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that is common in the soil, especially in the root nodules of leguminous plants.

The Green Revolution

•A period of time during which agricultural technologies and practices were purposefully spread across the globe, including: •Irrigation •Synthetic fertilizers •Synthetic pesticides •Monoculture cropping •High yielding varieties •Generally refers to the dramatic increase in use of these technologies in less developed nations. •Most advances made in staple crops, wheat and rice.

Yellowstone wolf reintroduction

•All wolves in the U.S., except Alaska were listed as endangered in 1973 .•Environmental groups fought for wolf reintroduction. •Wolves were brought back to Yellowstone National Park in 1995.